
Twenty interactive and fascinating fact books to get children off their screens, chosen by Sarah Webb
From puzzle books where you must locate the Irish Crown Jewels with the help of a seagull, to the reason why mosquitoes love smelly socks, there's something here for every young reader.
by Kieran Fanning, illustrated by Alan O'Rourke (Gill Books)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Tots to Teens: Cork on a Fork Festival is a recipe for a good time
Have fun with food in Cork City from Wednesday, August 13, to Sunday, August 17. That's when Cork on a Fork Fest will take place, and its programme of more than 100 events and activities promises to serve up something for all ages. The hands-on cooking classes will teach children how to make pizza, pasta, and sweet treats, like carrot cake balls, apple doughnuts, and smoothies. Little ones will get their faces painted and get to try new foods at the Meet the Makers event hosted by local food producers. Elizabeth Fort will be the setting for outdoor family games and all sorts of street food. There will be a garden party in Knocknaheeny Community Gardens, a honey-themed picnic in the Urban Pantry, culinary walking tours, and free cookery demonstrations, live music, family-friendly games, and a food market on Emmet Pl. That's just a taster of what you can expect. Visit or follow @corkonaforkfest on social media for the full line-up. Baby keepsakes Packing away clothes that no longer fit your growing baby can pull at the heartstrings. It can be sad to think they will never again be so little. Vicky Crawford, from Leitrim, knows this particular heartbreak. It's what inspired her to set up and create her unique memory bears. There are personalised bears that are made to order from a carefully chosen selection of baby clothes that parents send to Crawford. She cuts those clothes, sews them together, and stuffs them until she has a colourful and characterful bear. Then, she sews on eyes, noses and smiles, attaches ribbons and ties, and embroiders a name and date of birth on to the sole of one of the bear's feet. She even attaches a patch pocket for future visits from the Tooth Fairy. The bears cost €110 and can be ordered directly from Mystery story Solve It! The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels, the latest book by the Navan children's writer and primary school teacher Kieran Fanning If your child fancies themselves as an amateur sleuth, treat them to Solve It! The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels. This is the latest book by the Navan children's writer and primary school teacher Kieran Fanning, and it features Detective O'Malley and his sidekick, a seagull called Twist. O'Malley and Twist are trying to figure out who stole the Irish crown jewels from Dublin Castle. But they need help. All of the suspects who were filmed fleeing the scene on CCTV have now scattered across Ireland. Readers must assist the detectives in uncovering clues and solving puzzles so they can capture the crafty crook. The book is published by Gill Books and costs €11.99. High expectations Djeco Sealife height chart Keep track of your children's growth spurts with this colourful Djeco Sealife height chart. This numbered chart allows you to start when they are mere babies, measuring from 60cm tall, and continuing to when they are 1.4m-high teenagers. It comes with stickers on which you can write children's names, dates and ages, and makes for a gorgeous gift or decorative item to hang in a child's bedroom or playroom. It also comes with a pretty box to store it as a keepsake once the children are grown up. It costs €19.95 and is available from a traditional wooden toy and children's gift store run by mother of three Fiona Ryan in Ennis. Medical advice Looking for no-nonsense, evidence-based information about child development, health, and safety? That's exactly what you will find on the Instagram account of Cork paediatrician and mother of two Dr Niamh Lynch. At @dr_niamh_lynch, she posts on topics such as the recent listeria outbreak in Ireland, sun safety, febrile convulsions, choking hazards, and how to avoid them, eczema and developmental milestones. Her tone is calm, and she presents information in a way that is reassuring and easy to understand.


Irish Examiner
01-08-2025
- Irish Examiner
Children's books review: Fresh tales well worth racing off to the bookstore to grab
Rowan Tree Stables: Horse Show Surprise by Nina Carberry, illustrated by Nuno Alexandre Vieira (Gill Books, €13) What makes a good story isn't a celebrity name on the cover, but the words within. As it happens though, the words within the latest children's books from two of Ireland's best-known female ex-jockeys are well worth a flutter. Does big name recognition help ensure that these books are chosen by young readers in shops, libraries, or online? It is certainly no handicap in the case of novice writers Nina Carberry and Rachael Blackmore, though the flip side is that the works of fiction bearing their famous names may come under greater critical scrutiny that those of other authors. Certainly in the case of Carberry, who has transformed her career from Irish Grand National and Cheltenham-winning jockey via Dancing with the Stars and Ireland's Fittest Family to MEP for the Midlands North West constituency, the bar is set high in terms of expectation, and her co-authored series of children's books continues to deliver engaging pony tales with an Irish twist. Friendship is as central to the Rowan Tree Stables stories as the ponies themselves, but in this latest instalment, the bonds between pals Grace and Aaron are tested when Aaron is ruled out of Dublin Horse Show. Grace has qualified for Ireland's biggest horse riding event of the year but appendicitis means Aaron fails to get through. Can he overcome his disappointment at not competing himself and travel to Dublin as groom for his best friend on the big day? While Aaron weighs feelings of loyalty and dejection, Grace faces further hurdles on her journey to the RDS, with an injury scare and an emergency at the stables throwing her plans off course. There's tacking up and mucking out, hoof picking and horsey snobbery galore to satisfy pony lovers aged eight plus, with Grace's riding exploits pitched perfectly between the realistic and the aspirational, making her a credible female role model. Granny National by Rachael Blackmore with Rachel Pierce and illustrated by Tom Snape (Puffin, €15) Rachael Blackmore's debut children's novel, following hot on the heels of her recent retirement from a stellar racing career that saw her become the first woman to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, sensibly states on its cover that the work is a collaborative effort. The childhood memories that form the backdrop to the cleverly-titled Granny National, however, are all Blackmore's — drawn from her upbringing in Co Tipperary. There's a warm familiarity about the farmyard scenes — the chickens scattering as humans approach; a dilapidated, abandoned car overcome by shrubbery; and stables which house unidentifiable parts of every type of machinery, but rarely the horses for which the buildings were constructed. There's little warmth, however, about one of the characters in Blackmore's story, which stars a cast of cousins — including one named Rachael — who are staying at their grandparents' farm. Their austere grandad, a killjoy seemingly devoid of affection and human kindness, haunts the children's otherwise fun-filled holiday like a beastly Roald Dahl baddie, always finding fault and cause for discontent. Tom Snape's illustrations add another Dahlian tint to this madcap tale of horse-racing mayhem, in which Blackmore has fun with a Grand National chocolate sweepstake in which Red Rum competes against Tiger Roll and Minella Times, the horse on which Blackmore won at Aintree in 2021. The children's granny, as the title suggests, also gets in on the racing action, blazing a trail not only for female jockeys but for those following their dreams in older age. Pivotal to the whole melee of equine exuberance, however, is the fictional Rachael's New York cousin David. His arrival, ignorant of almost every aspect of Irish rural life, provides the opportunity for Blackmore to introduce young readers to the finer points of farming and racing, as well as country cuisine, as David swaps his notions of smashed avocado on sourdough for spuds and butter. The One and Only You by Shane Hegarty and Ben Mantle (Hachette, €13.99) 'In this whole wide world of people, and animals, and plants, and flowers, and oceans, and lakes, and so, so many other things, too many to count… there is only one you.' Shane Hegarty's picture book is a celebration of individuality with an intergalactic perspective, as a young child discovers how, despite the vastness of this universe and others beyond, each person is completely unique. Generations of ancestors may be reflected through physical similarities — your mother's nose, your father's eyes, or your great-granny's auntie's smile — but put them all together and 'they make you and no one else'. Considering your place among centuries of your own family lineage, let alone in the context of the enormity of humanity and all other life forms, may be a mind-boggling concept for the book's age four-plus readership. But Darkmouth author Hegarty puts the focus back on the individual, assuring young readers that they are far from alone in a world in which family and friends embrace their uniqueness. 17 Martin Street: A graphic novel by Marilyn Taylor, adapted by Alan Nolan, and illustrated by Jason Browne (O'Brien Press, €14.99) When Hetty Golden's family move to Martin St near Dublin's Portobello Bridge during the Second World War, the reception they receive from their new neighbours is mixed. Ben extends the hand of friendship to Hetty, but his father's response to the arrival of a Jewish family is hostile. 'There isn't enough work for us all here,' he says. 'They should all go back where they came from.' Though during 'The Emergency', many are similarly suspicious of strangers, Ben's mother counsels him to consider the persecution suffered by the Jews and to remember that 'we're all people', regardless of differing religions. Ben is given work as the Goldens' Shabbos Goy, doing odd jobs forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath, and when it becomes known that there is a young Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany hiding in the city, he and Hetty become involved in aiding her safety. Alan Nolan and Jason Browne give a graphic novel makeover to Marilyn Taylor's original book, which was in turn inspired by the real life story related to Taylor by a German Jewish woman who had arrived in Ireland at the age of 17, following the Nazis' rise to power. With the eyes of the world now turned to Palestine, the timing of the graphic novel's release is interesting; indeed it makes reference to the young refugee's brother finding safety there in a kibbutz. Yet the story's message of human kindness overcoming difference is more relevant now than ever, and in dedicating his work to all those who find themselves in a new country, Browne adds: 'Being an immigrant is not a burden but a gift that enriches a country.'


Irish Independent
09-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Twenty interactive and fascinating fact books to get children off their screens, chosen by Sarah Webb
In the second instalment from our series on fantastic children's books, here's some tips on keeping kids entertained with some light-hearted and engaging reads during summer holidays From puzzle books where you must locate the Irish Crown Jewels with the help of a seagull, to the reason why mosquitoes love smelly socks, there's something here for every young reader. by Kieran Fanning, illustrated by Alan O'Rourke (Gill Books)