You are all warmly invited on the Irish stand at the Bologna International Children's Books Fair next Tuesday 04 April for a drink and a chat. Come along!

IBBY Ireland is very proud to bring to Ireland the Silent Books exhibition to coincide with International Children's Books Day this April! This travelling collection of over 100 recent, exciting wordless picturebooks from around the world, from Argentina to the US via Finland, Iran and beyond will visit four libraries around the country: Ballyroan and Tallaght in South Dublin, dlr LexIcon, and Tralee in Co. Kerry with a launch in Ballyroan on Saturday 8 April.
Each leg of this free exhibition will also include hands-on activities from story time to illustration and writing  workshops facilitated by local librarians and writers and illustrators such as Children’s Laureate PJ Lynch, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Debbie Thomas and Tatyana Feeney. Check out each venue for details of those events.
Silent Books on tour:
​Ballyroan Library: 1-18 April
​Tallaght Library: 19-28 April
dlr LexIcon: 2-29 May
​Tralee Library: 2-18 June

The Mountains to Sea festival is in full swing this week in Dun Laoghaire with lots of children's books events to delight school audiences and the general public. Don't miss the wonderful exhibition of art by Italian-born, French-based writer-illustrator Beatrice Alemagna and Ireland's own Chris Haughton.
​These two picture-book creators have produced, in very different styles, work that oozes with respect for their target audience, reflecting a world at a child's eye level, but, always, with something for the adult reader in it too.
​Valerie Coghlan in her piece for the Irish Times (over here) sums it up:
"This exhibition reminds us that picturebooks are not only the preserve of preliterate children, recalling the words of Randolph Caldecott, the 19th-century illustrator, who is sometimes credited with being the father of the modern picturebook. Caldecott said that a good picturebook always has something there for the adult as well as the child. He didn’t mean that children were excluded, but that older children and adults see more – and perhaps interpret a visual story differently as their understanding develops."
​Beatrice Alemagna and Chris Haughton will be in conversation with Margaret Anne Suggs in the dlr LexIcon this Sunday at 12. More details here.
​So head over to Dun Laoghaire and dive into a World of Colour: there's something in it for everyone!

What better way to celebrate Paddy's Day than by reading great books written or illustrated by Irish children's book authors? There's lots to admire all round, for all age groups and in all genres. To help you pick a 'green' book this weekend, have a look at iBbY Ireland's selection of some of the best recently published books in English and Irish for iBbY Europe’s Children’s Books in European Languages. The selection can be searched by language and is widely consulted the world over.
Here are some of the titles we included: Ná gabh ar scoil! (Máire Zepf, ill. Tarsila Kruse, Futa Fata); An gabhar a raibh an-ocras go deo air! (Máire Ní Chualáin, ill. Natasha Rimmington, Futa Fata); Morf  (Órna Ní Choileáin, ill. Olivia Golden, An Gúm); Rabbit and Bear (Julian Gough, ill. Jim Field, Hodder); Nothing Tastes as Good (Claire Hennessy, Hot Key); The Wordsmith (Patricia Forde, Little Island); The Ministry of SUITs (Paul Gamble, Little Island); Oasis (Eilis Barrett, Gill Books); Harold’s Hungry Eyes (Kevin Waldron, Phaidon) and more. Make sure to check these selections over here.
​And if it's still not enough, the Children's Books Ireland's Book of the Year award shortlist was just announced this week.
​Happy Paddy's Day!