I was delighted to see my children’s picture book, Millie and the Magical Moon, featuring on the most-watched TV programme in Ireland, the Late Late Toy Show.
late late toy show 2022
Children’s Books
Millie and the Magical Moon
My latest book, Millie and the Magical Moon is out now. It is my first picture book and is illustrated by Phillip Cullen.
Mum, Dad and Millie are off on their summer holidays to beautiful Inis Oirr. With a little help from the not-so-shipwrecked MV Plassey, Millie has a magical moonlit adventure!
Maybe it’s not quite so long since the Plassey’s last voyage after all…
children’s book festival
During the month of October I’ve been busy travelling around the country as part of the Children’s Book Festival, visiting Libraries and schools in Westmeath, Offaly, Mayo, and Cork.
Here’s a picture of the display done by pupils in Scoil Naomh Eltin in Kinsale where I had a really enjoyable visit.
friend or foe
Pupils, teachers, and librarians in Killenaule in County Tipperary have just finished a month-long One Book One Community project based on my 2106 novel, Friend or Foe. Well done to all involved in a very successful undertaking.
On Wednesday 23rd of August Pawns was launched i n Balbriggan Library by the Mayor of Fingal, Mary McCamley. Great to have the book launched in a location that actually features in the novel! (more…)
visit to friends’ school
world book day
World Book Day was less hectic this year than in 2016, when I wrote One Good turn, the Irish entry for World Book DayA. World Book Day 2017 was still an active day, however, and I had the pleasure of meeting pupils in Killicomaine Junior High School in Portadown.
children’s book festival
October was a very busy month, with the Children’s Book Festival running in schools. libraries and bookshops all over Ireland.
It was a hectic time for me, starting with fifteen talks in five days spread across libraries in county Tipperary. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic young readers, and the hospitality from the librarians was wonderful – I certainly piled on the calories from all the cakes and buns I was offered!
The rest of the month was taken up with meeting readers in counties Clare, Galway, Kildare and Dublin, many of whom had been reading Friend or Foe as part of their schools’ 1916 centenary commemorations.
By the end of the month I had done thirty-nine talks and had an array of different throat tablets! It was tiring but also great fun. And now that I’ve had time to catch my breath again, all I can say is roll on next year…
Canadian launch of Arrivals
Just back from Canada where Arrivals was launched in the grounds of Lakefield College School, by Mary Smith, the Mayor of Lakefield. Also present in the photo are John Boyko, former Dean of History at the college, and Phyllis Williams, Chief of the Ojibwe at the Curve Lake Reserve.
It was exciting to have the launch in the very location where so much of Arrivals plays out, and an honour to have such important dignitaries present. The event was covered by the Lakefield Herald and What’s on in Peterborough, with television coverage on Chex TV’s popular evening show, Newswatch.
The launch was followed by a reading, a lively questions and answers session, and drinks on the deck of the boathouse. Even the weather was perfect, with a golden sun dipping below the horizon just as the event finished!
VISITING BLACKROCK COLLEGE
I gave a talk to Transition Year students in Blackrock College on writing historical fiction, drawing on themes from Friend or Foe and One Good Turn, with particular emphasis on the topic of looting during the 1916 Rising.
The students were engaged and had lots of questions, and I even had my picture taken beside the plaque to the infamous Ross O’Carroll-Kelly!
Blackrock College Transition Year talk
Brian Gallagher 