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With the school holidays coming up, here are some great ideas that will keep young cubs off their screens and lost in the pages of a good book
It has been an amazing spring for children's books, with some standout titles from Irish writers, such as Jane Mitchell's powerful teen novel Run for Your Life, set in a direct provision centre, and Frankie's World, a terrific graphic novel by Aoife Dooley about her childhood and growing up different. With the Easter holidays coming up, there's something special for every child and teen to lose themselves in.
Happy reading! Picturebooks and Books for Younger Children WHERE ARE YOU, PUFFLING? by Erika McGann, illustrated by Gerry Daly (O'Brien Press) The charming, colourfully illustrated tale of Ireland's favourite little puffling is now available in board book format, perfect for the youngest of readers. Puffling is lost, where can she be? Her parents go looking for her and, with the help of an array of Irish animals, from gannets to seals, they manage to find her. Age 2+ A GOOD PLACE by Lucy Cousins (Walker Books) A bee, dragonfly, beetle and ladybird are looking for somewhere new to live, but each place they try has problems, from human feet to pollution. But luckily a boy has created the perfect place to live for them all, in his back garden. A simple picturebook for younger children, with well-designed, colourful illustrations. Age 3+ DODOS ARE NOT EXTINCT by Paddy Donnelly (Yeehoo Press) Dodos are not extinct, they are hiding out in plain sight: that's the premise of this clever, funny picturebook. There are also dinosaur surgeons and taxi drivers in our midst, and woolly mammoths passing themselves off as elephants.
Sadly, these and other animals are indeed extinct and Donnelly talks about this in the final spread of the book — and about what we can all do to help endangered animals. The illustrations are vibrant and striking, and Donnelly's dramatic use of the double-page spread and the page turn are developing with each new book. Age 4+ MY MUM IS A LIONESS by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Dapo Adeola (Macmillan) "Run! Hide! My mum is a lioness." Haddow has created a wonderful ode to strong, sporty, powerful mums in this...