For the previous two years, we’ve challenged you to bring authentic Irish culture and heritage back to Saint Patrick’s Day.
This year, Ms. Christina shares Irish book joy, discovered on their recent trip to Dublin. Here’s to more authenticity and fewer stereotypes!
A note from Ms. Kate:
At Storytime Solidarity we do our best to welcome every child and their families. This means always being thoughtful in the songs and stories we share with them. It can be daunting, thinking so carefully about what we share, but the team at Storytime Solidarity is here to support in Solidarity with all.
Consider us a resource on your kindness journey. Use our ever-growing anti-racist song list when selecting songs for storytime (we include the songs we recommend against singing with citations), and check out our blogs and book lists as resources to add kindness to your storytimes.
In Solidarity,
Kate Reynolds (she/they), BMus, MA, MLIS
Founder and Director, Storytime Solidarity and Lavender Librarian
By Ingrid Christina (Ms. Christina)
One thing I love about travel is how quickly it replaces embedded stereotypes with more authentic impressions. On my first ever trip to Ireland, I tried to wipe my mental slate clean, freeing it for whatever real-life experiences would write themselves in.
Saint Patrick’s Day Solution #1: SEAGULLS
Enter the seagulls! I hadn’t expected them, and they were everywhere. Seagulls in the park, seagulls in the streets, seagulls on the souvenir socks I bought at the book shop, and seagulls in the books. So many graphics, poems, and stories featured seagulls and other sea birds. Therefore, in your library flyers, posts, and décor, why not swap out some of the usual tired insignia with sassy seagulls and seaside birds?
Saint Patrick’s Day Solution #2: LIVE JAM SESSION
Another thing that moved me in Ireland were the “pub sessions,” live music played in pubs by local musicians in the community. A small group would be playing traditional music, and other musicians would come in with their instruments and gradually rotate in while other musicians rotated out.
In this spirit, a great library program could be to have an impromptu, live “jam session” and invite local musicians from the community. I’m picturing anyone who plays any kind of instrument coming in, and they could just figure out how to play something—anything!—together on the spot.
Saint Patrick’s Day Solution #3: CELTIC MYTHOLOGY
Ireland’s Celtic heritage and connection to the deep past were also evident on our short trip. In the Natural Museum of Ireland — Archaeology, we saw 5,000-year-old bodies preserved in bogs. And Celtic references came up in conversations, literature, and décor — from the Goddess Brigid (who later became Saint Brigid and one of Ireland’s three patron saints) to Celtic knot patterns worked into furniture and facades. And this is saying nothing of the Celtic heroes we found in the books!
Saint Patrick’s Day Solution #4: BOOKS BY IRISH AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS
We had an amazing experience visiting the Hodges Figgis book store in Dublin — with the largest stock of books related to Ireland to be found anywhere in the world — and have been immersed in all the excellent selections that senior bookseller MaryBrigid and her colleague recommended to us. We bought so many that it was a challenge to fit them all in our luggage, but poring over the books has felt like a wonderful extension of our trip. The treasures recommended to us by the local experts at Hodges Figgis have really opened our eyes to modern Irish life and thought.
Below are the treasures we brought home.
McCoys enjoy a live music session at the Cobblestone.
A dignified graphic from Ms. Christina’s local school.
McCoys outside Hodges Figgis Bookstore in Dublin.
Note from Auntie Anne:
When there are so many amazing books available by Irish authors and illustrators — from this list, or our two previous ones — why would you use ones by non-Irish people featuring cartoonish images and stereotypes?
When you could decorate your display with harps and seagulls and Celtic heroes — why would you limit the visuals to shamrocks and leprechauns?
I know there’s comfort in these images. They are so familiar to us! But, they are also stereotypes and millions of Irish people are tired of the shallow portrayal of their rich culture, history, and literature.
Picture Books:
- THE HUG by Eoin McLaughlin and Polly Dunbar.
- WHILE WE CAN’T HUG by Eoin McLaughlin and Polly Dunbar.
- WHERE ARE YOU, PUFFLING? by Erika McGann and Gerry Daly.
- IT’S TOO DARK, PUFFLING? by Erika McGann and Gerry Daly.
- THE SLEEPING GIANT by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.
- THREE TASKS FOR A DRAGON by Eoin Colfer and P.J. Lynch.
- OH, NO GEORGE! by Chris Haughton.
Ms. Christina meets MaryBrigid at Hodges Figgis in Dublin — introduced by Auntie Anne!
(Read to the end of this piece for the story of MaryBrigid’s delightful friendship with Auntie Anne!)
Poetry and Story Collections:
- TREAD SOFTLY: CLASSIC IRISH POEMS FOR CHILDREN edited by Nicola Reddy; illustrated by Erin Brown.
- GIRLS WHO SLAY MONSTERS: DARING TALES OF IRELAND’S FORGOTTEN GODDESSES by Ellen Ryan and Shona Shirley Macdonald.
- I AM THE WIND: IRISH POEMS FOR CHILDREN EVERYWHERE edited by Lucinda Jacob and Sarah Webb; illustrated by Ashwin Chacko.
Fiction and Graphic Novels:
- PABLO AND SPLASH by Sheena Dempsey.
- THE GIGGLER TREATMENT by Roddy Doyle.
- THE FRIENDSHIP FAIRIES by Lucy Kennedy.
- MILLY MCCARTHY AND THE IRISH DANCING DISASTER by Leona Forde and Karen Harte.
- MILLY MCCARTHY IS A COMPLETE CATASTROPHE
- by Leona Forde and Karen Harte.
- THE SHOP OF IMPOSSIBLE ICE CREAMS by Shane Hegarty and Jeff Crowther.
- RABBIT & BEAR: A BAD KING IS A SAD THING by Julian Gough and Jim Field.
Young Adult:
A Note from Auntie Anne.
Early this year, Ingrid Christina and their family visited Dublin.
On their bucket list were Irish books, and a good bookshop.
I was more than happy to introduce Ingrid to my friend, MaryBrigid, a senior book seller at Hodges Figgis in Dublin.
If you want to visit an Irish bookshop, then you can’t go wrong with Hodges Figgis, which was founded in 1768, was mentioned in James Joyce’s ULYSSES – and has its own Wikipedia entry.
[Their] Irish Department has the largest stock of books related to Ireland to be found anywhere in the world.
I was so jealous! During lockdowns, the only travel dream I had was visiting MaryBrigid.
It was soul-affirming to spend time with her in February in Aotearoa New Zealand, brief though it was.
P.S. A week after our meeting — it was about 30°C / 86°F at the time — MaryBrigid returned to work in Dublin, and it snowed!
About The Author:
Ms. Christina (she/they) is Irish by marriage — in 2013, they married into an Irish family and have been learning ever since! They are an early literacy teacher and co-founder of Sing, Rhyme, and Play — along with their spouse Ryan McCoy. Ms. Christina is on the team at Storytime Solidarity, focusing on music and media.
