This month’s RTÉjr Book Club, with thanks to our friends at Children's Books Ireland, is written by Emily Daly. Emily is a Book Doctor and JCSP School Librarian.
This December, we bring you a curated selection of the very best in Irish children’s books published in 2023, offering you a guide to the perfect Christmas presents that will not only be unwrapped this season but cherished for years to come. 2023 has given us a treasure trove of brilliant books from Irish authors, illustrators, and publishers.
This year’s round-up delves into the wonders of nature and animals, funny stories, the magic of myth, the marvels of sci-fi, the thrill of sports, and the drama of real life and history. There really is something for every age and taste!
Animals and Nature
Picturebooks The Secret Elephant by Ellan Rankin and Wonder-Vet: The Amazing Adventures of Aleen Cust by Jennifer Farley are ideal for readers aged 5+ interested in learning about real-life heroines who rescued animals. Readers aged 7+ interested in learning about weird and wonderful facts from nature will love Wonders of the Wild by expert Éanna Ní Lamhna and illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. While older animal lovers aged 9+ will thoroughly enjoy The Superpets and Me in which Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick shares incredible stories of brave animals.
Funny books
For readers aged 3+ who enjoy a giggle there is lots to choose from including Too Many Cats by Kate Sheehy, Dodos are not Extinct by Paddy Donnelly, and Wally the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat by Ratha Tep and Camilla Pintonato. Fantasy fans aged 9+ will be thrilled to read the hilariously wacky Irish series Aldrin Adams and The Legend of Nemeswiss Adventures by Paul Howard and Lee Cosgrove and The Shop of Impossible Ice Creams: Perilous Pineapple Plot by Shane Hegarty and Jeff Crowther. The Milly McCarthy series by Leona Forde is another new laugh-out-loud series aimed at readers aged 7+. which follows a 10-year-old girl from Cork as everything she touches turns to catastrophe.
Drama and real-life issues
For readers aged 5+, Mr Wolf Goes to the Ball by Tatyana Feeney and My Momma Zo by Kelly & Zoey Allen, illustrated by Tara O'Brien are two beautiful and inclusive picturebooks featuring LGBTQ+ characters. For readers aged 11+, Finding Hope by Sinéad Moriarty explores a young girl’s growing obsession with the environment following the death of her mother, while Swimming the Moon by Brian Conaghan follows twelve-year-old Anna as she hatches a plan to keep her parents together. Fans of graphic novels will enjoy Finding My Voice (9+), the second in Aoife Dooley’s warm and funny series, skilfully exploring Frankie’s experiences of Autism as she starts secondary school.
History
Readers aged 8+ with an interest in Irish history will be fascinated by The Forgettables: Remarkable Irish People (and Animals) You’ve Never Heard Of, a beautifully-produced non-fiction book by Myles Dungan and illustrated by Alan Dunne. Fans of historical fiction aged 9+ might also enjoy Sally in the City of Dreams by Judi Curtin which follows young sisters who emigrate from Ireland to New York in the early 1900s, or The Children of Croke Park: Bloody Sunday 1920 by Michael Foley which looks at a key moment in the Irish war for independence.
Myth and fantasy
Lovers of myth and fantasy are in for a treat with a wealth of new and exciting Irish titles this year. For readers aged 5+ The Slug and the Snail by Oein DeBhairduin and Olya Anima is a stunning picturebook retelling an Irish Traveller folktale. For an original fairy tale for readers aged 9+, try Three
Tasks for a Dragon, a quest story of knights, dark magic, and a maiden with powers of her own by Eoin Colfer and P.J. Lynch. Lovers of Irish myths and folklore aged 9+ will be captivated by Alan Titley’s retelling of An Táin: The Great Irish Battle Epic, while lovers of adventure stories will enjoy Fairy Hill by Marita Conlon-McKenna or The Silver Road by Sinéad O’Hart.
Science and Sci-Fi
Readers aged 5+ interested in learning about science might enjoy John Devolle’s latest non-fiction picturebooks, Brains and Germs, which combine bold, colourful illustrations with jokes and incredible science facts. Or for more in-depth reading on how the human body works, readers aged 7+ will love Usborne Step Inside Science: Your Body by Lara Bryan and Teresa Bellón, with lots of engaging lift-the-flap information. Older readers aged 9+ looking for an exciting fast-paced sci-fi tale might enjoy Kyan Green and the Infinity Racers by Colm Field and David Wilkerson, an adventurous race across multiple universes.
Sports Sport fans will enjoy some great new non-fiction reads. For fans of GAA, hurling, and camogie, we recommend The Great Irish Book of Gaelic Games written by journalist Evanne Ní Chuilinn and beautifully illustrated by Donough O'Malley. if rugby is your sport of choice, try Josh the Flyer: Josh Van Der Flier Irish Sporting Legend, a biography written by sports journalist Paul O’Flynn. And finally for soccer fans, try Go On, The Girls in Green by Gill Books which explores everything you ever wanted to know about the Irish Women’s soccer team.
Poetry and Verse
Fans of verse novels will be deeply moved by Wider Than The Sea by Serena Molloy (9+) and The Lonely Book (11+) by Meg Grehan, both of which deal with themes of family, self-acceptance, and inclusivity. Poetry lovers will be delighted to discover two new beautifully-produced and expertly curated poetry collections for children of all ages. Tread Softly: Classic Irish Poems for Children, edited by Nicola Reddy and illustrated by Erin Brown, is a collection of some of Ireland’s most well-loved poems accompanied by mesmerising illustrations and useful contextual information. I Am the Wind: Irish Poems for Children Everywhere edited by Lucinda Jacob and Sarah Webb brings together old favourites and new voices with playful illustrations from Ashwin Chacko.
Brains by John Devolle, Pushkin Children’s Books, 32pp ISBN 9781782694038
This colourful picturebook invites readers to 'take a peek inside your mind’ and that is exactly what it does. The very first illustration literally lifts the lid on the subject of brains, showing us what we would see if we took off the top of our skull. In fourteen double page spreads the book explains how our brains work so that we can move, feel and think, with each opening of the book presenting one idea or piece of information. This isn’t a joke science book, but a real first introduction to the extraordinary world of brains, both human and animal. (5+)
Milly McCarthy and the Irish Dancing Disaster by Leona Forde, illustrated by Karen Harte, Gill Books, 192pp ISBN 9780717196142
Milly McCarthy is going to be a World Champion Irish dancer, she’s sure of it; all she needs is to convince her parents, which is always a challenge, given the chaos created by her previous extracurricular. But when it turns out Milly is actually quite talented, her mother agrees and Milly’s ascent through the world of competitive Irish dance begins. Alas for Milly, her World Championship dream ends the way everything seems to for the girl whose number one skill is calamity: in disaster!
Funny and full of heart, it is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a disastrously funny read. (7+)
The Silver Road by Sinéad O’Hart, Piccadilly Press, 352pp ISBN 9781800785090
Rosaleen Darke has enough on her plate; her beloved Mamó has passed away, her parents are working all hours, her old friends have left her behind and her new classmates are being less than friendly. Into all of this lands an ice giant who wordlessly entrusts her with a powerful (possibly evil) stone. Very quickly, Rose realises that there might have been more truth to her Mamó’s old stories of magic than she realised. Fantasy is firmly rooted in Irish folklore and mythology with the quest of the story shaped around the saving of the old magic of Ireland. (9+)
I am the Wind: Irish Poems for Children Everywhere edited by Lucinda Jacon and Sarah Webb, illustrated by Ashwin Chacko, Little Island Books, 128pp ISBN 9781915071460
I am the Wind blends the new with the old to paint a picture of what the Ireland is like, in both English and Irish. Seamus Heaney is accompanied by up-and-coming authors such as Polina Cosgrave and Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan among others, illustrating the diversity of Irish society past, present, and future. This outstanding book of poetry whisks you away into a world oh so familiar it feels like a warm hug. Its stunningly soft and soothing illustrations complement the feeling of home which resonates throughout the poems selected. A book that you will not be able to put down. (8+)
