Holiday Gift Guide: Children and Young Adults
The holidays are fast approaching! It is probably no surprise that I try to gift as many books as I can for the holidays, especially to the children and young people in my life. I loved receiving books as gifts when I was little. I grew up in a rural community and lived far from most of my friends. Books gave me whole worlds and characters to explore from my bedroom. Receiving books as gifts from my parents and family encouraged my love of reading and storytelling, and I’m always hoping to do the same for the children and young folks in my life.
The suggestions in this gift guide will hopefully help you tick off some names on your shopping list. Happy Holidays!
Christmas Books
Dublin Christmas by Nicola Colton
To Orla, Christmas means Gran, so when it looks like Gran won’t make it this year, everything feels a lot less festive. And with Christmas spirit everywhere at an all-time low, the whole of Dublin is in darkness.
But then the fairy lights on Orla’s Christmas tree come to life and take her on an enchanting adventure to the National Library, Grafton Street, Stephen’s Green, and the GPO. Together, Orla and her new friends attempt to restore the meaning of Christmas and holiday cheer…
A heart-warming festive story that brings Dublin at Christmas to life. A lovely book to read together to get in the Christmas spirit.
Reindeer Down!: An Irish Christmas Tale by Natasha Mac a'Bháird
Santa’s sleigh is flying over Ireland, delivering presents to all the boys and girls. But then there’s a crash! Dancer hurts her leg and can’t pull the sleigh. What will Santa do? Rory, the smallest reindeer, has a great idea. It’s full speed ahead to visit the deer in Phoenix Park. Can they help Santa continue with his journey?
This is a cute story that features some familiar Irish locations. This one has been very popular at our recent markets. Another great pick to get everyone in the mood for Christmas.
Educational Books
My Naturama Nature Journal by Michael Fewer
This activity book is perfect for the young nature explorers on your shopping list. Following the bestselling Naturama, Michael Fewer and Melissa Doran return with an activity book that encourages young readers to discover for themselves the magic of nature right on their doorstep.
Season by season, the book is packed with outdoor projects that include making a nest box for birds, adopting a tree, making an insect hotel, and moon gazing. But it is perhaps the field guide sections, which encourage observation, collecting, and the creation of their very own nature journal, that will be most loved by children in years to come. The charming My Naturama Nature Journal will provide hours of entertainment for budding naturalists everywhere - whatever the season.
Great Irish Science Books by Luke O’Neill
We love these large-format reference books from Gill. They are beautifully illustrated and bring the topics to life. We return to The Great Irish Weather Book over and over, and I’m positive that the Great Irish Science Book will be equally as loved in our house.
Join Trinity professor Luke O’Neill on the greatest journey of them all. From the very big to the very small – vast galaxies to microscopic atoms - travel through the wonders of the universe, the mysteries of the human body, and the tiny world of molecules. Discover the Irish scientists that have helped to shape our world and find out how to become one yourself. How do we measure the universe? Why do we need plants? How do our bodies repair themselves when we are ill? What species will exist on earth in a million years?
Discover the answers to these questions and a lot more in this thrilling and engrossing book packed with fascinating phenomena, vibrant illustrations, experiments you can do yourself, and heaps of fun facts.
P is for Poetry: Poems From Irish Poets by Seamus Cashman
I love poetry, and I am always encouraging people to read more of it. I find that lots of people feel turned off from poetry because of how it was first presented to us in school. Lots of the poetry we are presented with at school is dry, old, and hard to understand. Books like this one bring poetry to life with illustrations and pick poetry that is engaging and fun to read.
Originally published in 2004, the award-winning Something Beginning with P was a collection of new poems for children including poems from leading Irish poets such as Seamus Heaney, Paula Meehan, Rita Ann Higgins, Nuala ní Dhomhnaill, Frank McGuinness, and Peter Fallon.
This new, specially curated, edition of P is for Poetry includes best-loved poems and poets taken from the original collection as well as new additions that are sure to become beloved new favorites.
Picture Books
Up On the Mountain by Peter Donnelly
This new book is from the award-winning author and illustrator Peter Donnelly. Follow the family throughout a year of nature walks as they collect leaves, take shelter beneath a giant oak, feel the sun on their skin and breathe in the cool, fresh air. Life is good up on the mountain. Put on your wellies and come along too!
The Same But Different by Emer O’Neill
‘If we all looked just the same, how boring life would be.
The things that make me different are the things that make me me!’
This book is so important and can help start conversations about differences between people. I’ve noticed that lots of the folks buying this book at markets are families who are part of marginalized communities, and I’m so glad they have a book that gives representation to the things they and their little ones might experience. But I think this book has a lot to offer white families as well and can teach a lot about how to be an ally.
Little Emer doesn’t like it when she’s teased for having brown skin and fuzzy hair. She wishes she could look like everyone else. But with a little help from mum, Emer soon learns that we’re all the same but different - and life is better that way!
A Dublin Fairytale by Nicola Colton
Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Fiona who lived in Dublin. But Dublin is full of colourful characters and creatures from the fairytale realm. Often not seen or heard, they reside in some of Dublin’s most famous locations and landmarks! Fiona’s on a journey to Granny’s house...but who’s that following her through the streets of Dublin? Travel across the city with Fiona and her fantastic friends in this modern Dublin fairytale. I love the beautiful illustrations and the fun take on familiar fairy tales.
Young Reader and Young Adult Fiction
Tabitha Plimtock and the Edge of the World by Erika McGann
Tabitha Plimtock lives in a house at the very edge of the world. She is a go-getter – that is, a dogsbody forced to go and get things – for her nasty relatives, Gower, Gristle, Bertha and Cousin Wilbur.
One of Tabitha’s endless chores involves descending the cliff face, via a net that hangs from the back of the house, to collect eggs, nuts and other things from the inhabitants of the wall. When rumours begin to circulate of monsters climbing from the base to gobble up unsuspecting wall-dwellers, Tabitha is worried for all her friends.
Determined to save them, Tabitha seeks out the elusive and eccentric Dr Sherback. The doctor introduces her to a whole new world at the base – one that is dark, dangerous and absolutely thrilling – but not even Dr Sherback’s vast knowledge can slow the terrible creatures climbing to the top of the wall.
With a clever plan, and not a small amount of courage, can Tabitha stop the monsters and keep the people she loves safe for good? We have been reading this together each night, and I love the characters. The world has lots of surreal and magical detail, and the accompanying illustrations make this a great read for young readers 8-13.
The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street by Sarah Webb
This book is a great choice for a young reader who is interested in history. Set in 1911 Dublin, we follow Eliza Kane and her brother Jonty as they move from the leafy suburbs of Rathmines to a tenement flat on Henrietta Street. It is a big change. Pigs and ponies in the yard, rats in the hallways, and cockroaches, or ‘clocks,’ underfoot!
When they meet their new neighbour, Annie, a kind and practical teenager, and her brothers, and a travelling circus comes to town offering them both jobs helping Madam Ada the bee charmer and Albert the dog trainer, things start to look up. When a tragedy happens in the tenements, Eliza, Jonty, and their new friends spring into action.
A tale of family, friendship, and finding a new home, with a touch of magical bees! Great for young readers ages 8-13.
Savage Her Reply by Dierdre Sullivan
We recently finished reading this book as a family. The dark, fairytale themes make it a great pick for young adult readers interested in legend and storytelling. This book is a retelling of the Children of Lir from the perspective of Aífe, the witch who turns Lir’s children into swans for 900 years. Aífe marries Lir, a king with four children by his previous wife, Aífe's older sister. Jealous of his affection for his children, Aífe turns them into swans and suffers a curse of her own as a consequence.
I was familiar with this fairytale, but it was so unique to hear it from the perspective of the “bad guy” in the story. Especially since Sullivan writes the character and her situation with nuance and explores the guilt felt by this complex character.