From Penguins and Faires to the GAA – it has been a jam packed month for new Irish book releases. Here's a round-up of some of our favourite new reads from Irish authors and Illustrators. Compiled by award-winning and best-selling Irish Author Triona Campbell.
Available this month in bookstores and libraries throughout Ireland.
For Younger Readers look out for…
Well Done, Mummy Penguin
Author Chris Haughton
For Ages 3+
Dublin born author and illustrator Chris Haughton is known for his stylish art and spot-on visual storytelling. In this new book, he turns his attention to Antarctica for an irresistible ode to family bonds and awesome moms.
The sky may be dark over icy waters, but Mommy Penguin is off to catch some fish for dinner. As Daddy and Little Penguin watch in suspense, Mommy swims, jumps, and climbs up a slippery slope, barely avoiding a plunge back into the sea.
There’s just one more hurdle to overcome, past some grumpy, just-awakened seals, before she returns to her anxiously waiting family. With a nod to the fascinating nature of penguin parenting, this boldly illustrated adventure from the creator of 'Little Owl Lost’ and ‘Oh No, George!’, will have little ones happily on the edge of their seats as they root for Mommy Penguin.
Irish Words for Nature
Author Manchán Magan
Illustrator Steve Doogan
For Ages 3+
Dublin author Manchán Magan is fascinated by words, particularly Irish words, and their connections to the natural world. Having enjoyed huge success with the bestselling Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers, and Other Irish Words for Nature, he now brings his infectious wonder and enthusiasm for the Irish language to an even younger audience with this board book featuring simple translations for our favourite animals, birds, fish, and insects. The accompanying stunning black-line illustrations will transfix even the littlest reader while teaching your little one a cúpla focail from the get-go.
Jess Gets Her Wings
Author Lucy Kennedy
Illustrator Phillip Cullen
For Ages 4+
Dublin author Lucy Kennedy is celebrating two book releases this month. In Jess Gets Her Wings, little Jess is about to have her very first flying lesson! But before she can get her flying license, she must complete three simple tasks - from helping her neighbour Mr. Snail mend a light, to finding a ladybird’s missing spot, and saving a fallen star stuck in a tree. Can Jess become just like her sisters and get her wings too or will these tasks prove too hard?
‘Twas the Match Before Christmas
Author Julianne McKeigue
Illustrator Brian Fitzgerald
For Ages 4+
A beautiful GAA and Christmas themed story from Dublin author Julianne McKeigue.
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Croke Park
It was quiet and peaceful; the great pitch was dark ...
But not for long!
As the clock strikes midnight, there's a magical surprise: Santa, his elves, and reindeer arrive for a night of mischief, mayhem, and football.
Where to Hide a Star
Author Oliver Jeffers
For Ages 4+
Northern Irish and world-renowned artist and picture book creator Oliver Jeffers brings to life an endearing story about the magic of friendship — and sharing what brings us joy. This is a highly anticipated new adventure from an internationally bestselling book creator ideal for those who loved his previous work.
Once there was a boy who would often play hide-and-seek with his friends the star and the penguin. The star was always easy to find, but one day it went missing. So, the boy radioed the Martian for help, and soon found himself on an exciting spaceship rescue mission to the North Pole! But there, he discovered that he wasn’t the only one who had always dreamed of having a star as a friend...
Letters from the North Pole
Author Annie Atkins
Illustrator Fia Tobing
For Ages 5+
Five letters from Santa Claus himself are featured in this beautifully illustrated book from Dublin based and renowned set designer and visual artist Annie Atkins. (Designer on such films as The Grand Budapest Hotel, West Side Story, and, Indiana Jones).
Five children from all around the world write to Santa Claus with ideas for Christmas gifts and are amazed when he writes back! Through these letters from Santa (that children can pull out and read), the hidden world of the North Pole is revealed, from how reindeer can sleep standing up to what snacks Santa would like left out on Christmas Eve, and how he gets around the world so quickly. But will the gifts the children have requested be made in time? This is a nostalgic, festive tale, beautifully illustrated by Fia Tobing.
The Salmon of Knowledge
Author Eithne Massey
Illustrator Ellen Kane
For Ages 5+
A beautiful telling of a much loved tale by Dublin author Eithne Massey. Long ago in Ireland, there lived a boy called Fionn, who wanted to know everything.
Fionn goes to live with the wisest man in Ireland, hoping to find answers to his many questions. But Finnegas has a secret. He knows how to get all the knowledge in the world, and it starts with a silver salmon swimming in the River Boyne…
Kevin and the Blackbirds
Author David Almond
Illustrator PJ Lynch
For Ages 6+
This is a poignant and lavishly illustrated storybook, from two revered creators. An ancient Irish tale of a wild child with a heart of gold.
In lean times, Kevin’s parents send him to a monastery to be cared for. After study and prayer, the monks let the young boy run and play in the woods and fields. But the time comes when he must set aside childish ways. Shut in his lonely cell, yearning for home and the freedom of the outdoors, Kevin reaches through the window toward the light as two blackbirds land and feather the nest of his hands.
Kevin waits, day after day, for their eggs to hatch, and it’s not until the chicks spread tiny wings and fly off that he can rest and the monks see what they must do.
This is a moving first collaboration for Belfast based illustrator PJ Lynch transforming a traditional Irish tale into something new. A story about the love of nature and the mercies of letting go.
The Friendship Fairies go to Paris
Author Lucy Kennedy
Illustrator Phillip Cullen
For Ages 6+
Dublin’s Lucy Kennedy’s second book this month is another from The Friendship Fairies series. Sisters Emme, Holly, and Jess - are off to Paris with their parents, exchanging homes with a French family for a month. The girls are having a brilliant time exploring the city, until disaster strikes and they have to track down their host family’s precious pet octopus, who someone seems to have let out accidentally.
The sisters chase the octopus all over Paris - through the streets, the Louvre and even up the Eiffel Tower - following a trail of puddle prints. The Friendship Fairies better track him down soon, or they’ll be in BIG trouble when the French family gets home!
Gold Rush
Author Flora Delargy
For Ages 7+
A powerful illustrated book that tells, for the very first time, the story of the courageous women of the Klondike Gold Rush. Written and illustrated by Belfast artist Flora Delargy, the award-winning illustrator of Rescuing Titanic, this exquisitely illustrated story of quiet bravery tells, in rich detail, how Shaaw Tláa (Kate Cormack), a First Nations woman, discovered the gold that led 100,000 gold diggers to descend on the region.
Set against the powerful backdrop of the Yukon valley, with forbidding mountains and rickety railway tracks cutting through the snow, this stunning book shows young children how gold was discovered and how it possessed the popular imagination. It explores the towns that popped up overnight, the treacherous journeys people made to cross the forbidding Yukon landscape, the building of epic railways, and the resilience and injustices experienced by the First Nations people whose towns became inundated by gold-diggers and the legacy of the Gold Rush.
Flora Delargy’s style and talent is on full display here in the beautifully rendered train tickets and maps of the mountains, diagrams of railway bridges, a step-by-step look at how to pan for gold, and breathtaking illustrations of the Yukon mountains.
An Fia sa Choill
Author Sadhbh Devlin
Illustrator Anastasia Melnykova
For Ages 7+
There is something special about the deer that Fionn Mac Cumhaill meets in the woods. Those animals don’t usually have green eyes…
This is a brand-new version of a magical tale from the Fenian Cycle by Dubliner Sadhbh Devlin‘s ‘An Fia sa Choill’ (published by Futa Fata), illustrated by Anastasia Melnykova, as we are transported into imagining a world of shape-shifters – and asked what kind of animal would you change into if you could?
At Home in a Book
Author Lauren O’Hara
For Ages 7+
Step inside the worlds of classic children's books, look through the contents of Sherlock’s deducting bag and pore over the map of Neverland.
Dublin illustration star Lauren O'Hara brings the world of nine classic children's books to life - letting you step into iconic houses and explore their stories.
The perfect gift for literary lovers and bookworms-to-be, each book is illustrated with an immersive cutaway illustration; you can look inside each room, see characters and pore over details.
Featuring Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Wizard of Oz, Heidi, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, A Little Princess, Little Women and Peter Pan and Wendy.
And that’s it for Younger readers this October! All of the above are newly released this month and available in local libraries and bookshops all around the country.
For more book recommendations check out Discover Irish Kids Books or give them a follow on Instagram or X.
Discover Irish Kids Books round-up graphic by Bex Sheridan.
Triona Campbell is the Author of ‘A Game of Life Or Death’ and ‘The Traitor in the Game’ and part of the team at #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks – a campaign to highlight and celebrate Irish kids and teen books.
And don't forget that we have the RTÉjr Book Club every month, encouraging young readers to pick up a book!
