This week: Easter books for the younger readers in your house
With the Easter school break here, this week we’ll be looking at some children’s books that have been published recently or are due to be published this week (all of these titles should be in the bookshopsfrom Thursday March 30).
There’s a whole range of age groups catered for in the selection here, with something for the young readers, the middle grade readers and the teenagers, covering fantastical adventure stories, ancient Irish mythologies and small but important matters closer to home.
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, AF Steadman, Simon and Schuster €12.99
Skandar has spent years studying for his Hatchery exam, an annual test that selects a handful of 13-year-olds from the Mainland, where Skandar lives, and takes them to the secretive Island, to train them to become unicorn riders. Things go wrong for Skandar on the day of the exam and his dream is ruined. Then a shadowy figure knocks on his door at midnight, telling him the Island is calling to him. This is a completely immersive fantasy novel, set in a world where not all unicorns are necessarily nice. Packed with sky battles, heroes and villains and treehouse cities, this adventure is aimed at eight-12-year-olds.
Catfish Rolling, Clara Kumagai, Zephyr Books, €12.99
Ideal for those aged 14-plus, this novel interweaves Japanese myth, magical realism and the story of one girl’s search for her mother after an earthquake. Ancient Japanese mythology tells the story of a catfish, who lives under the islands of Japan and when it rolls, the land rises and falls, producing an earthquake. Set in Japan in 2011, just after the massive earthquake, 17-year-old Sora has lost her mother and is intent on finding her. Along with her scientist father, she works in the zones that have been evacuated, a vast wilderness that allows her father to continue his work in researching the shifting of time zones. It’s dangerous work but he, like Sora, yearns to see Sora’s mother again, and this might be the only way. Then Sora’s father goes missing and Sora is left alone to search for both her parents, and possibly even the catfish itself. A beautifully written and beautifully produced first novel from a writer who hails from Canada, Ireland and Japan.
The Little Otter who Tried, Katie O’Donoghue, Gill, €13.99
A lovely book this, gorgeously illustrated by the author, it is the story of Little Otter, who’s afraid to try swimming on her own. But with the help of the other creatures who live on the riverside, she eventually manages it. It’s a picture book for five to eight-year-olds and delivers an important message: that our goals can be achieved if we accept support and help from those around us. The author is an artist and also an art psychotherapist, and if you like this book you might like to check out her other book for the same age group, The Little Squirrel who Worried.
The Táin, Little Island, Alan Titley, Little Island, €9.99
One of the most enduring and best known of Irish myths, this is the tale of Queen Maeve marching north to steal the great brown bull and being resisted by Cúchulainn, the Hound of Ulster, still only a youngster and already with a reputation as the fiercest fighter in Ireland. She sends her best warriors to bring Cúchulainn down and one by one they all fail. But there’s one man who might be able for Cúchulainn; the only man in Ireland Cúchulainn really doesn’t want to fight. The author has gone to the source material and produced a translation that is so much more enjoyable than the lifeless oul’ tedium my generation was forced to learn in school. Updating the language while keeping the story true to its time is a tricky tightrope but it’s beautifully managed here, and the many illustrations by Eoin Coveney are rich and atmospheric. Perfect for the seven to 11 age group.
Wider than the Sea, Serena Molloy, Hodder, €8.99
For children aged nine-plus, this is the story of Ro, who is finding school difficult, and especially reading. Ro has dyslexia and when she reads, the words seem to get mixed up on the page. But after school in the afternoons, she goes to the bay to watch a wild dolphin play with the waves and leap through the water. Watching the dolphin gives Ro strength to persevere and endure and do the best she can. But then the dolphin disappears. And Ro must overcome her fears if she is to find him. Beautifully illustrated by George Ermos, this book is written by an author who’s had her own struggles with dyslexia and yet ended up teaching English. A heart-warming tale.
Finding My Voice, Aoife Dooley, Scholastic, €9.99
For the eight-plus market, this graphic novel is the story of Frankie, who needs to find her voice – and herself – after leaving the relative safety of her primary school. Starting secondary school has been difficult for neurodivergent Frankie. There are all the new faces, not to mention all the new rules. She’s feeling more than a little overwhelmed until she gets a chance to compete in a Battle of the Bands contest. All she has to do is find a band! And that means finding friends. Frankie has never been good at making new friends. Exploring themes close to the author’s own experience, this is a story about friendship, bullying, family, fitting in and autism. Aoife Dooley, not diagnosed as autistic until she was 27 years old, has openly shared how her diagnosis helped her to truly understand herself and her thinking.