The team at Discover Irish Children’s Books pick their favourite titles for younger readers for August
With only a tiny number (or sometimes none at all) of Irish children’s authors listed in the top ten charts each week, Discover Irish Children’s Books is championing our home-grown writers. Each month they pick their favourite Irish titles to make it easier for you to find these brilliant and bright books for young people. Starting with younger readers this month (and standby for older readers tomorrow!), here are their August choices.
If the book is available in Ireland, we’re linking to bookshops where you can order online and have your books delivered.
AUGUST FAVOURITES (YOUNGER READERS)
The Dictionary Story, by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (Walker Books) Age 4+
Dictionary wishes she could tell a story just like the other books. So one day she decides to bring her words to life. How exciting it is, she thinks, that an adventure is finally happening on her very own pages! But what will she do when everything gets out of control, all in a jumble, and her characters collide causing the most enormous tantrum to explode?
This isn’t what she wanted at all! How on earth will she find sense in all this chaos? Her friend Alphabet knows exactly what to do and sings a song that brings calm and order to Dictionary’s pages once again.
My First Book of Irish Sea Creatures, (The O’Brien Press) Age 2+
Whale, seal, ray, eel, crab, starfish, periwinkle: This book introduces our youngest readers to all the wonderful creatures in our seas and on our shores! With simple text and pictures, this bright and colourful board book is perfect for children learning how to understand the world around them.
The Other Side of the Valley, by Ashling Lindsay (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) Age 4+
Pip lived all alone on one side of a beautiful, wide valley. And he had absolutely everything he needed. Every morning he drank his tea, watered his plants and checked his post box for letters. And every night, he sat and looked out into the deep dark sky at the planets, comets and stars. And sometimes it made him feel quite small.
Until one day, a leaf fluttered in through Pip’s open window. He looked at it. It was not an ordinary leaf-it certainly didn’t belong to any of the trees on his side of the valley. It shimmered and shone in the sunlight and was unlike anything Pip had ever seen before!
But where did it come from? Pip peered out of his window and wondered… maybe there was something more on the other side of the Valley after all.
This is a meaningful picture book all about travel, exploration and trying new things, encouraging little ones who may be stuck in their ways to venture out of their comfort zones. Whether it’s trying new foods, reading new books or preparing to go to a new school, there’s something for all readers to take away from this sweet fable.
A Boy Called Book, by Vincent Ralph, illustrated by Aaron Cushley (Scholastic) Age 4+
A beautiful and poignant picture book that’s a heart-twisting celebration of books! Once there was a boy called Book. He asked his mother why he was named that, and she replied: “Because your life is a story. You can write it however you want.” This stunning picture book shows how stories inspire us, shape us, and ultimately heal us.
Written by New York Times bestselling author Vincent Ralph, and illustrated by rising star Aaron Cushley. A gentle introduction to book genres to young readers, and it shows them how life – with both its joys and sorrows – is better understood through stories.
Lulu Meets the Bees, by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, Age 2+
Lulu is really excited! She is off to visit beekeeper Auntie Zora to meet her bees. Lulu wears a special suit to get up close: she sees the queen bee, the workers and even the baby bees. She tastes the honey—it is sweet and sticky, and delicious. It inspires Lulu to do what she can to help the bees.
