{"id":29260,"date":"2025-09-18T08:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/29260\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T08:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:02:07","slug":"your-culture-night-and-christmas-guide-to-childrens-literature-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/29260\/","title":{"rendered":"your Culture Night (and Christmas) guide to children\u2019s literature \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

In August 2024, Guardian journalist Kate McCusker<\/a> visited Dublin to find out why Ireland \u201cpunches so far above its weight when it comes to literature\u201d. She talked about our four Nobel literature laureates and six Booker Prize winners, the over-representation of Irish writers on prize lists and \u201cthe cultural dominance of Sally Rooney\u201d. The article mentions libraries, festivals, magazines, publishers, bookshops and funding structures. And yet, with the exception of the My Little Library Book Bag scheme, there is no mention of children\u2019s literature from Ireland. <\/p>\n

My intention is not to point fingers at the journalist for this omission, or at those within the literature sector who were interviewed for the piece. It correctly identifies some of the elements which contribute to the ecosystem of Irish literature: supportive funding structures, passionate and informed publishers and booksellers, a gr\u00e1 for the chat, whether in book clubs or on shop floors. But Rooney and the multitudes of other writers and illustrators in Ireland don\u2019t appear fully formed at 26 and take the world by storm. They have experiences with books and reading as children which shape them. <\/p>\n

Writer and Laureate na n\u00d3g Patricia Forde<\/a> remembers \u201creading The Hobbit and the Narnia books, and being blown away by the idea that there were other worlds at the edges of our own.\u201d Laureate for Irish Fiction \u00c9il\u00eds N\u00ed Dhuibhne<\/a> was similarly spellbound by books: \u201cI wanted to be like Enid Blyton, whom I loved.\u201d Anne Enright describes herself as \u201can Alice in Wonderland child\u201d. Rooney herself recalls being a \u201cdisorganised, unsystematic reader\u201d,<\/a> who followed her own impulses and intuitions, a luxury every child and teenager should be afforded. <\/p>\n

All that is to say, in response to the question \u201cHow do you build a nation of readers and writers whose reputation is world-renowned?\u201d, perhaps we ought to talk about giving our children a rich variety of books to choose from. <\/p>\n

For decades, Irish children\u2019s literature has been transforming and expanding its boundaries. Now, when we hold it to the light, we can see it for the multifaceted gem it is, bursting with brilliant non-fiction, verse novels, comic-style graphic novels, fiction that reflects Ireland today or whisks readers away through time and space. We have many new voices creating books as brilliant and varied as the children who will read them. <\/p>\n

The judges for the KPMG Children\u2019s Books Ireland Awards in 2025 read a record-breaking 169 books by Irish and Irish-based authors and illustrators, more than double the amount submitted only six years before. And the quality has not suffered with the increase in quantity: only last year, the judges for the same awards insisted on publicising a longlist for the first time ever, in order to recognise the extent of truly excellent titles submitted. <\/p>\n

With art of this calibre being created in Ireland for young audiences, I could ask why these award-winning writers and illustrators aren\u2019t being lauded in the same way as their counterparts who make work for adults. Can the average Irish Times reader name a book by recent Book of the Year Award winners Eilish Fisher, Dermot Flynn, Clara Kumagai, Ellen Ryan or Shona Shirley Macdonald? New research<\/a> published by Children\u2019s Books Ireland this year shows that just under half (47 per cent) of all children in Ireland have at least some books written by Irish authors, according to their parents\/carers. 26 per cent of parents reported that their child has \u201ca few\u201d Irish books with only 7 per cent reporting that they had none. Almost one in five, 19 per cent, did not know whether they had any books by Irish artists in the home, indicating that there is still work to do to increase awareness of children\u2019s writers and illustrators in Ireland. <\/p>\n

With the relentless barrage of parenting advice available for families, reading to and with children may seem like just another thing we should be doing, another job on the list, rather than something to savour together. Children\u2019s literature is often viewed by people as less important, easier to create, less intellectual or meaningful \u2013 all of which I would strongly refute. But for me, and for Children\u2019s Books Ireland, the most important question is: how can we change this perception? <\/p>\n

There is an undeniable \u201cgreen wave\u201d of culture happening worldwide, from Paul Mescal and Nicola Coughlan on screen to Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan in comedy to Fontaines D.C., Kneecap and CMAT in music \u2013 Irish creatives are in the limelight and rightly being celebrated. But children\u2019s authors and illustrators in Ireland too often fly under the radar. <\/p>\n

For these artists, Children\u2019s Books Ireland\u2019s role is to support and champion their brilliant work. Our job is to tell you that Tarsila Kr\u00fcse\u2019s A Little Birdie Told Me would make a great birthday present for younger readers, and that My Sister is a Treasure by Yasmeen Ismail and Tracy Darnton is ideal for big siblings welcoming new arrivals to the family. I could rave about N\u00edl \u00c9isc le Trust, also published as Don\u2019t Trust Fish, a hilarious picturebook by newcomer Neil Sharpson and American illustrator Dan Santat. <\/p>\n

For the comic-lovers, I could tell you there are new instalments in the Evil Duck (Chris Judge), Pablo and Splash (Sheena Dempsey) and Nina Peanut (Sarah Bowie) series, as well as a brand new title, Squid Squad, from Aoife Dooley. Fans of the Mirabelle and Emerald series will love Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: the New School, by Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Hart and \u00dana Woods. Young adults looking for love stories can find new books from M\u00e9abh McDonnell and Jenny Ireland, as well as the second book in Alice Oseman\u2019s Heartstopper series now translated into Irish by Eoin McEvoy. And that\u2019s just for starters.<\/p>\n

The Best Irish Books of 2025 has just been published \u2013 just in time for Culture Night (and dare we say it, the other occasion beginning with C that is just around the corner). It\u2019s packed with 100 reviews of brilliant Irish books for 0\u201318-year-olds, and 100 \u201cread also\u201d recommendations for further inspiration. We\u2019ve printed 30,000 copies, which you can pick up free of charge at your local library and in 90 participating bookshops island-wide. You can also download it, absolutely free, from childrensbooksireland.ie<\/a> and check out the many other reviews while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

For Culture Night this year, why not make a resolution to find one great read for a young reader in your life \u2013 we guarantee it\u2019ll be one of the best Irish books of 2025! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In August 2024, Guardian journalist Kate McCusker visited Dublin to find out why Ireland \u201cpunches so far above…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,28656,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-29260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-daniel-aruebose","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}