Biographical note

Banshees are supernatural Irish harbingers of doom, but … where do they come from? The answer: they grow in pods on the prickly gorse bush. The sole job of a baby banshee, a "bansheenie" as they are called, is to bond with a human. Once bonded, they know everything about that person. Most importantly … when they will die. Our bansheenie, named Beanie, is no ordinary herald of death. When she sees her person, a little girl called Rose, she decides to change her own – and Rose’s – fate and instead of delivering bad news, Beanie wants to protect Rose and her family. When her banshee's howl of doom won't work, she must draw power and strength from the ancient secrets and hidden networks of the natural world around her. She must create a brand new sound, a new way of being in the world that will change ... everything.

Steve McCarthy is an Irish designer, illustrator, and bearded gentleman. His style is bold, colourful and inspired by humour and wit. Steve was home-schooled and had a very free childhood, which was the inspiration behind his debut author-illustrator title The Wilderness, which won the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2023 honour award for illustration. His poetry anthology with Sarah Webb, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea was the 2017 Children’s Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Steve comes from working as a background designer, most notably for the animated feature film Song of the Sea, which was nominated for an academy award in 2015. He lives in south east London. Find Steve online at www.mrstevemccarthy.com, and on Twitter and Instagram as @mrstevemccarthy.