#DiscoverIrishKidsBooks #LeabhairÉireannachaDoPháistíAbú
There are around 350 published Irish children’s authors and illustrators, including those living and working in Ireland. That’s a lot of children’s authors and illustrators!
24% of book sales in Ireland are children’s books.
Irish children’s books are not receiving the national recognition and attention that they deserve.
From March to the start of August 2023 – twenty weeks – only ten books by Irish children’s authors or illustrators charted in the top ten. There were 123 Irish authors in the adult original fiction chart in the corresponding twenty weeks.
Check out our call to action – be an Irish Children’s Book Champion.
Our Irish Children's Top 10
Why We Created a List
The Top 10 children’s and young adult fiction bestseller list that appears in the Irish Times and other newspapers (compiled using data from Nielsen Book Scan) is full of British/US books. Most weeks, there are no books written or illustrated by Irish/Irish based artists on this list – we’d like to do something about that!
Every week during September and October 2023 we will publish our own Top 10 children’s and YA fiction bestseller list.
The list will be informed by the top ten bestsellers in a different independent bookshop across Ireland each week. The list will be available each week on www.discoveririshkidsbooks.ie
What you can do to be an Irish Children’s Book Champion:
Buy and borrow Irish children’s books where you can.
Tell friends, family and colleagues about Irish children’s books.
Review and promote Irish children’s books on your website and other social media. Use #DiscoverIrishKidsBooks.
If you ever get a chance to appear on tv or radio, talk about Irish children’s books.
Invite Irish children’s authors and illustrators to your festivals, libraries and schools.
Agus ná déan dearmad ar leabhair as Gaeilge! Support Irish authors of children’s books in Irish too!
Find out more here.
Why Irish Children’s Books are Important
Ireland is a vibrant and diverse country, and all Irish children, from all walks of life and all backgrounds, deserve to see themselves on the pages of the books they read.
“You can’t be what you can’t see!” When children read books by Irish creatives, they see that they too can become authors and illustrators one day.
We can do better. Children matter. Children’s books matter.
#LeabhairÉireannachaDoPháistíAbú
Our Latest Lists
Our Weekly Independent Bookshop Bestseller List (week ending 24th September 2023)
About Our Irish Top Ten Books for Children and Teens The Top 10 children’s and young adult fiction bestseller list that appears in the Irish Times and other newspapers (compiled using data from Nielsen Book Scan) is full of British/US books. Most weeks, there are no books written or illustrated by Irish/Irish based artists on
+ Read More
Our Weekly Independent Bookshop Bestseller List (week ending 17th September 2023)
About Our Irish Top Ten Books for Children and Teens The Top 10 children’s and young adult fiction bestseller list that appears in the Irish Times and other newspapers (compiled using data from Nielsen Book Scan) is full of British/US books. Most weeks, there are no books written or illustrated by Irish/Irish based artists on
+ Read More
Our Weekly Independent Bookshop Bestseller List (week ending 10th September 2023)
About Our Irish Top Ten Books for Children and Teens The Top 10 children’s and young adult fiction bestseller list that appears in the Irish Times and other newspapers (compiled using data from Nielsen Book Scan) is full of British/US books. Most weeks, there are no books written or illustrated by Irish/Irish based artists on
+ Read More
#DiscoverIrishKidsBooks In The News
Derry Journal 30 Aug 2023
Jenni Doherty at Little Acorns joins campaign to champion Irish kids’ books
Jenni Doherty, a children’s bookseller from Derry, has joined a range of internationally celebrated Irish authors and illustrators to launch Discover Irish Children’s Books, a new initiative to champion children’s books written by those living and working in Ireland.
South East Radio News 30 Aug 2023
Eoin Colfer and Eve McDonnell, a children’s authors from Wexford, has joined internationally celebrated authors and illustrators such as Marita Conlon-McKenna, Chris Haughton, Shane Hegarty and Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde, to launch Discover Irish Children’s Books, a new initiative to champion children’s books written by those living and working in Ireland.
Writing.ie 29 Aug 2023
Discover Irish Children’s Books? A Reverse Poem by Olivia Hope
I am part of a hidden tribe.
And I no longer believe that
Irish children’s books can change a child’s world forever.
Irish Times 26 Aug 2023
To mid-August of this year, of 1,000 books for children and young adults being sold in Ireland excluding educational material, only 141 were from Irish authors and illustrators. None were in the top 30
Irish Independent 23 Aug 2023
12 must-read children’s books by Irish authors that have stood test of time
When it comes to buying books for children, a few names rarely go out of fashion, from Julia Donaldson and Eric Carle to Dr Seuss and Judith Kerr.
Business Post 18 Aug 2023
Eithne Shortall: Time to change the story on kids’ bestsellers being dominated by non-Irish authors
Irish authors are high up the list of bestsellers for adults in Ireland, but the top ten children’s books mostly feature non-homegrown writers despite there being plenty of quality choices available here.
Irish Independent 12 Aug 2023
Sarah Webb: It’s no longer a fairy tale for Irish authors of children’s books – kids deserve better
I was lucky. I grew up in Ireland in the 1970s with parents who loved books. My mum took me to Dalkey library every week and I read every book on the children’s shelves, from Little Women to Enid Blyton. What the library did not have was books set in Ireland, featuring Irish children like me.