{"id":22927,"date":"2025-09-15T14:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T14:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/22927\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T14:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T14:35:11","slug":"your-guide-to-the-best-irish-books-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/22927\/","title":{"rendered":"Your guide to the best Irish books of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

For this month’s RT\u00c9jr Book Club, our friends at Children’s Books Ireland give us a slice of their new recommended reading guide – The Best Irish Books of 2025. CBI Publications Officer Ruth Concannon highlights a small selection for us. <\/p>\n

Ireland is a nation of storytellers, and this latest guide showcases the wide range of brilliant books from Irish authors and illustrators, Irish diaspora and those who have made their home here. Covering fiction, non-fiction, picturebooks, graphic novels, poetry and more \u2013 there really is a book to be found for every reader!<\/p>\n

Aimed at an audience aged 0\u201318 years and including books in English and as Gaeilge, the guide shares 100 short reviews along with 100 ‘read also’ recommendations to guide you in the direction of your next great read. For this month’s RT\u00c9jr Book club, we have picked out some of our favourites from the guide, some of which are newly published this September.<\/p>\n

For even more recommendations, you can pick up a copy of The Best Irish Books of 2025 for free at participating bookshops and libraries nationwide or download the guide at childrensbooksireland.ie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Fraidy Dog by Kate Sheehy, The O\u2019Brien Press, 32PP, ISBN 9781788495035<\/p>\n

Fraidy dog is frightened of spiders, storms and all the unknown corners of his home, but his encounters with a ‘furrocious\u2019 cat help him find the fun in his surroundings again. The illustrations are the central focus here: the reader is drawn into the movement of each carefully arranged illustration, the chaos adding to the dynamism of the story and the playful characters. This is an enjoyable picturebook for younger children who may find comfort in a character who learns to conquer his fears. (Age 2\u20134)<\/p>\n

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Suas sa Sp\u00e9ir\/ Height for Hire by Tatyana Feeney, My Irish Books, 32PP, ISBN 9789998778856<\/p>\n

Cairdeas neamhgh\u00e1ch agus r\u00e9iteach neamhghn\u00e1ch ar fhadhb curtha in i\u00fal ag l\u00e9ar\u00e1id\u00ed dra\u00edocht\u00fala a oscl\u00f3idh doras na samhla\u00edochta do gach l\u00e9itheoir idir \u00f3g agus aosta. Sa phicti\u00farleabhar gleoite seo gan focail feicimid sior\u00e1f ag breathn\u00fa go fiosrach amach \u00f3n z\u00fa. Nuair a th\u00e9ann eitleog i bhfost\u00fa i gcrann c\u00e9 eile a bheadh ard go leor le teacht i gcabhair ar an \u00faineir \u00f3g? T\u00e1 st\u00edr agus dra\u00edocht ar leith ag baint le saothar Tatyana Feeney, saothar a labhra\u00edonn leis an leanbh laistigh \u2013 cuma c\u00e9n aois at\u00e1 ag an leanbh lasmuigh! Interesting and accessible, this wordless picturebook is uniquely charming for a variety of languages. (Aois 5\u20137)<\/p>\n

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Gruaig \u00c1ine by Eoin Colfer, translated by Sadhbh Devlin and illustrated by Richard Watson, Futa Fata, 96PP, ISBN 9781915684257<\/p>\n

Cuireann cuid gruaige \u00c1ine isteach go m\u00f3r uirthi. Agus \u00ed fiosrach i gc\u00f3na\u00ed, tugann s\u00ed bearradh gruaige di f\u00e9in, rud a chrutha\u00edonn fadhbanna eile di. De ghn\u00e1th b\u00edonn ruaille buaille agus spraoi ag baint le leabhair Eoin Colfer, agus t\u00e1 Gruaig \u00c1ine l\u00e1n leis chomh maith. T\u00e1 greann fite fuaite ann agus b\u00edonn rud \u00e9igin craice\u00e1ilte ag titim amach i ngach caibidil. Cuireann na l\u00e9ar\u00e1id\u00ed daite go m\u00f3r le hinsint bheomhar an sc\u00e9il. T\u00e1 Gaeilge shnasta in \u00fas\u00e1id san aistri\u00fach\u00e1n le nathanna cainte agus friotal aoibhinn tr\u00edd is tr\u00edd. A fantastic translation of the popular Mary\u2019s Hair, this is a laugh-out-loud read ideal for readers improving their reading confidence as Gaeilge. (Aois 8\u201310)<\/p>\n

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Squid Squad by Aoife Dooley, Scholastic, 224PP, ISBN 9780702337109<\/p>\n

Ollie and Zing live together with their pet anemone Barney in a caravan in the town of Nowhere at the bottom of the sea. Surrounded by a quirky cast of sea creatures with unique abilities, they all come together to form the Squid Squad. Bold, defined and brightly coloured, there\u2019s so much to enjoy, and even learn, from this bright graphic novel. It\u2019s also wonderful to see the theme of being unique and completely yourself, which features in Dooley\u2019s other work, carry on in this riot of a read. (Age 8\u201310)<\/p>\n

Hear more from Aoife on the We Love Books Podcast here!<\/a><\/p>\n

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Making It Up As You Go Along: A Children\u2019s Guide to Writing Stories by Patricia Forde and illustrated by Mary Murphy, Little Island Books, 272PP, ISBN 9781915071903<\/p>\n

With a foreword from President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, this book shows us from the beginning that it takes children\u2019s creativity seriously. A guide for children who are interested in creative writing, featuring great advice and practical exercises to ignite the imagination. Although the tone is light, fun and age-appropriate, the content makes it a truly valuable resource for any young writer harbouring dreams of publishing a novel someday. (Non-fiction, Age 8\u201310, 10\u201312)<\/p>\n

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Tales of Darkisle: Conn of the Dead by Dave Rudden and illustrated by Ali Al Amine, Gill Books, 160PP, ISBN 9781804582084<\/p>\n

Conn has trouble fitting in \u2013 he\u2019s always been told that he\u2019s too much. But when a plan to crash the school talent show somehow leads Conn to the basements of University College Dublin, he accidentally discovers an ancient evil is stirring. Conn\u2019s interest in the world around him, his inability to sit still and his frustration when misunderstood will be very relatable to a lot of children. The first in a new series, this book will appeal to readers interested in fantasy, horror or Irish folklore. (Age 10\u201312)<\/p>\n

Read an extract from Dave’s brilliant book here!<\/a><\/p>\n

Ruth Concannon is the Publications Officer for Children\u2019s Books Ireland, the national charity and arts organisation that champions every child\u2019s right to develop a love of reading.<\/p>\n

Their mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and young people on the island of Ireland, and to champion equitable access for all to excellent books. CBI share their expertise and enthusiasm with the adults who guide and influence young readers and encourage schools and early childhood settings to build a positive culture of reading and reading aloud. They support and promote authors and illustrators and connect them with their audiences through our work.<\/p>\n

Go to www.childrensbooksireland.ie for more about great books.<\/p>\n

And you can look back on the RT\u00c9jr Book Club archive here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For this month’s RT\u00c9jr Book Club, our friends at Children’s Books Ireland give us a slice of their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[288,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-22927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}