Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust is a children’s book published in 1980 by the Irish writer named Eve Bunting. The book was intended to be a children’s book and contains numerous illustrations realized by the graphician Stephen Gammell.
Eve Bunting is known for her children’s books and novels aimed at young adults but despite having a young audience, the subjects she chooses to discuss in her books are very serious. The narrative style she uses allows her to transmit valuable moral lessons to the children reading her books in a clear and simple manner.
In Terrible Things, Bunting analyzes the events that happened during the Second World War and analyzes how the Holocaust became possible. Through her apparent lighthearted story, the author warns against the tendency to shrink into a corner and remain quiet while terrible things happen around us. Through her book, she transmits the idea that sometimes, we have to stand up and fight for what we believe to be right.
In her other books, Bunting presents other serious subject matters such as homelessness and racism and tries to teach the children who read the books better ways to deal with tense situations.
