Bold Girls!

To celebrate the release of the new reading guide BOLD GIRLS by Children's Books Ireland, we are running a competition open to all in 4th, 5th and 6th here at SMGS Inchicore.
There will be goodies for all classes and pressies for the winners.
BOLD GIRLS is full of reviews of brilliant books featuring strong, clever girls. There are books for all ages and they can be enjoyed by boys and girls alike!



In the meantime, you can take a look at the BOLD GIRLS reading guide here and download it for absolutely free!

Books to put under the Christmas tree!

Here is a selection of some of the best books published in the past year, for all ages from babies to Young Adults. Which one will you ask Santa for? 😉

Bathtime for Little Rabbit by Jörg Mühle

Little Rabbit is going to have a bath and he needs your help if he is going to be squeaky clean! Can you help him turn the tap? How about blowing away the bubbles on his head? And can you rub him dry? A lovely, interactive book for very little ones! (ages 0-3)

Yoga Babies by Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey

‘We’re the yoga babies, see what we can do!’ Roll out your mats and pull on your yoga pants for this one! Follow a tribe of babies as they try a range of simple poses explained through bright, friendly illustrations and a bouncy rhyming text. Whatever the mood (cranky, lazy or over-excited), there’s a pose for that! (ages 2-6)

Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Cheeky Triangle, who lives in a triangular house with a triangular door and triangular windows, wants to play a good joke on its friend Square (who lives in a square house, etc.). This is a really funny story where the humour is carried by very few words and wonderfully expressive minimalist pictures. This new book from the award-winning duo who gave us the brilliant Sam and Dave Dig a Hole is a gem! (ages 4-7)

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari has passed his swimming test. He is ready to jump off the diving board. At least, that’s what he’s saying… It will take the gentle guidance of his dad and his own pluck to help Jabari through his self-appointed challenge. Fabulous illustrations of a sunny day at the pool will have you long for summer. (ages 4-7)

Charlie and Mouse by Laurel Snyder and Emily Hughes

Follow brothers Charlie and Mouse as they go about their day, attending an imaginary party or trying to make a couple of coins selling rocks. Three stories in a book that will bring lots of smiles to young readers’ faces (and their grown-ups’, too). Charlie and Mouse is ideal for beginner readers who can combine sounding out and their knowledge of tricky words to make their own way through the book. (ages 5-7)

This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe

How do kids around the world go to school? What do they wear? What games do they play? And what do they get for breakfast? Find out all about it and much more in this beautiful book following one day in the lives of real families in Japan, Uganda, Russia, Iran, Peru, India and Italy. (ages 5-8)

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

An action-packed and magic-filled adventure featuring Morrigan Crow who is a perfectly nice and normal girl except… except that she is cursed! Anything that goes wrong (from burnt toast to heart attacks) is blamed on her and to top it all she is meant to die on her eleventh birthday. It’s no fun being Morrigan Crow! But then the mysterious Jupiter North turns up and everything changes… If you’ve loved Harry Potter, this is one for you! (ages 9-12)

Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans

When Fidge finds herself accidentally falling into a magical world in her awful cousin Graham’s basement, the last thing she expects to meet is a bunch of toys from her little sister’s bedroom. Toys that have somehow come to life and, for some of them, developed very nasty personalities. There’s tons going on here and it’s so, so funny. A brilliant read! (ages 9-12)

The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters by Kara Lareau and Jen Hill

Sisters Kale and Jaundice Bland LOVE their very boring lives: always the same, always predictable, no surprises, be they good or bad. But when they get kidnapped by a bunch of crazy pirates, things are thrown upside down and they don’t like it one little bit. Come aboard for a zany adventure, you won’t regret it! (ages 9-12)

The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue and Caroline Hadiladsono

Meet the Lotterys, a family of two dads, two mums and seven children, plus an assortment of pets all living in the rambling house of Camelottery. Life is a bit mad for narrator Sumac with so many siblings and grownups to deal with, but it’s nothing compared to what happens when Grumps (a cranky grandad she’s never met) comes to live with them. (ages 12+)

Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans

Elliot’s life is hard enough as he tries to hide the fact that Mam is slowly but literally losing her mind. Yet things are going to get a lot more complicated as a young Greek goddess lands in his garden shed and as they accidentally free the Daemon of Death from his millennial prison under Stonehenge. Cue a mad race to track him down and bring him back behind bars with the help of a crew of mad gods who are nothing like what you’d expect. Action-packed and hilarious! (ages 12+)

Marvel: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Squirrel Girl has the tail of a squirrel and its amazing abilities for jumping, running, gliding and stocking nuts in her cheeks. But Squirrel Girl can’t let anyone know about her powers. She’s just moved to a new town where she’s trying hard to blend in, make new friends and figure out where the recent wave of crime is coming from. Squirrel Girl is awesome and super funny, and it pokes fun at Iron Man: what’s not to like? (ages 12+)

Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais

Hakima, Mireille and Astrid have been voted winners of the Pig Pageant, that is to say ugliest girls in school. Once the initial shock of the news has subsided, what are the girls going to do about it? Mireille has the answer: they’re going to show the rest of the world that they don’t care! Follow the girls as they hop on their bikes for a hilarious road trip through France, it will put a spring in your step! (Ages 14+, Young Adult)

For more great book ideas, head over to Inis magazine, where you will find books for all ages in English and Irish. Your local library should also have a copy of this year's Inis Reading Guide, which contains over 250 quick reviews of books for babies to young adults: picturebooks, early readers, chapter books, big, fat novels, fact books and poetry.

Spooky reads for Halloween

Fancy something a little (or very!) scary this Halloween?
Why not sink your fangs into one of these?
Feel free to read up or down the age groups, but beware!
Some are proper spooky, some are funny, and there are a few terrifying ones in there too. 6th class, I know from our chats last year that you can take it (remember the light-bulb-eating woman?), but maybe don't read those too late at night...

Recommended Summer Reads for 5th and 6th Class!

Stuck for what to read this summer? Here are some great books to keep you busy: quick-and-silly reads, outdoorsy reads, far-and-wide reads and keep-your-brain-ticking reads! Enjoy!

Recommended Summer Reads for 3rd and 4th Class!

Stuck for what to read this summer? Here are some great books to keep you busy: quick-and-silly reads, outdoorsy reads, far-and-wide reads and keep-your-brain-ticking reads! Enjoy!

Recommended Summer Reads for 1st and 2nd Class!

Stuck for what to read this summer? Here are some great books to keep you busy: quick-and-silly reads, outdoorsy reads, far-and-wide reads and keep-your-brain-ticking reads! Enjoy!

Recommended Summer Reads for Junior and Senior Infants

Stuck for what to read this summer? Here are some great books to keep you busy: sunshiny reads, outdoorsy reads, far-and-wide reads and keep-your-brain-ticking reads! Enjoy!

Give them books for Christmas!

It’s December, so we are officially allowed to use the C word and start on our shopping. Books are of course a great gift for children who love reading, as well as for those who haven’t yet fallen in love with it. Here’s your Patron of Reading’s own selection of brilliant titles published this year, for all ages.

Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments below!

My Dreams by Xavier Deneux

This is one for babies and toddlers, with big chunky pages, stark black and white illustrations and even some glow in the dark bits! A gentle bed-time read by the author-illustrator of the brilliant My Animals in the same series, for the same age group.

How to Find Gold by Viviane Schwarz

Anna and Crocodile are on a mission to find gold: they have to be really sneaky and really clever about it, in case of competition. This is a glorious read, with bright and funny dialogue that will prompt map-making and treasure-hunting around the house for sure. 3+

Rabbit and Bear series by Julian Gough and Jim Field

Take Rabbit, who has never uttered the word ‘fun’, and Bear, who is kind but a bit dim-witted. Place them in a snowy countryside with some mouldy carrots, the makings of a snowman and a wolf (maybe). This is an extremely funny read, with some gross bits occasionally thrown in, to read aloud or read all by yourself. 6+

Mega Robo Bros by Neill Cameron

Sibling rivalry with robots and super powers, what’s not to like? An awesome, fast-paced and hilarious comic that is the first in a series. Brilliant! 7-10

Hello World by Jonathan Litton and L’Atelier Cartographic

For the fact-lovers out there, here comes this atlas with a different. Take a stroll around the world and learn to great the locals in over 150 languages. With flaps to lift and big, detailed pictures to pore over, this promises hours of quiet reading. 8+

Tamsin and the Deep by Neill Cameron and Kate Brown

Another fabulous comic with plenty of adventure and suspense, and a healthy dose of magic and scares. Tamsin is off surfing when a rogue wave drags her under apparently forever. A month later, she resurfaces, apparently unscathed, but she has brought back from the deep a magic stick and, unfortunately, a very nasty creature… 9-12

Football School by Alex Bellos, Ben Lyttleton and Spike Gerell

A treat for football fans, Football School is a handy guide to explaining absolutely everything through football. Hilarious and full of fascinating trivia. 9+

Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Sputnik may look like a dog, but, really, he is an alien from outer space and his mission is to find 10 good reasons to save Earth from its scheduled annihilation. Prez is the human boy who first opens his door to Sputnik and thus the crazy adventure begins. A big, fat novel that reads super-fast because it is so giggle-inducing and action-packed. 10+

Survivors by David Long and Kerry Hyndman

These true stories of survival from the past century should delight those who love facts and ‘real’ stories. The real-life heroes in these pages have survived being attacked by bears, trapped in canyons, surrounded by sharks and crashing in their plane in the jungle. Heartening, gripping and occasionally graphic: edge-of-your-seat stuff. 11+

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Prepare to cry, prepare to laugh as you meet ex-best friends Franny and Suzy. Ever since Franny died at the beach, Suzy has stopped talking. Stopped talking, but not thinking. Suzy is a practical, scientific kind of girl and what she thinks is this: there must be more to Franny’s death. Heart-breaking and empowering in equal measure, this is one to cuddle up with. 12+

Nothing Tastes as Good by Claire Hennessy

One for Young-Adult readers, this is the story of Annabel, a snarky, anorexic teen who also happens to be a ghost. Her job is to look after Julia, an over-achieving, bright girl with an obesity issue. The irony isn’t lost on Annabel who has very personal notions of what it might mean to ‘help’ her charge. Spot on, funny and gripping, it doesn’t shy away from strong language and mature topics. Young Adult

For more great book ideas, head over to Inis magazine, where you will find books for all ages in English and Irish. Your local library should also have a copy of this year's Inis Reading Guide, which contains over 250 quick reviews of books for babies to young adults: picturebooks, early readers, chapter books, big, fat novels, fact books and poetry.

Happy browsing!