The Very Grand Launch of "Once Upon A Place"

It has been a busy few days leading up to the publication of "Once Upon A Place" compiled by Laureate na nÓg, Eoin Colfer.

The anthology was well and truly launched on Monday night in the very grand setting of Dublin's Iveagh House. 

At one point our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, kindly joined Eoin and me for a chat about the book.

It was a lovely occasion, and it was so great to meet with so many of the writers who contributed to the anthology. 

Many thanks to everyone at Children's Books Ireland, Gráinne and Siobhán at Little Island, Nessa and all at the office of Laureate na nOg, and of course my buddy Eoin for inviting me to be a part of this amazing project, and for making the night such a success.

Earlier in the day Eoin and I had a lot of fun at Archbishop Marsh's Library with young people from North Dublin Muslim School, and we also put in an appearance on Swipe TV with Clare and Simon.

Beyond the Stars

I illustrated a lovely ghost story called The Snow Globe by Marita Conlon-McKenna in Beyond the Stars. It launches at 6.30 tonight at Easons on O'Connell St, Dublin.
The book's proceeds go to "Fighting Words".
I hope to see some of you there.

"Love Lucie x" Launch

We had a brilliant time at Marita's launch of Love Lucie x last night.

It was great to see a lot of old bookish friends and also to meet some new ones,

and it was a pleasure to hang out with Marita and James and the rest of her lovely family after the launch.

Thanks to Mandy for this shot of Marita and me.

"Horses and Tortoises, Stories from Africa"

I was very honoured to be asked by Katy FitzPatrick of the Hugh Lane Gallery, to launch "Horses and Tortoises, Stories from Africa".
Here is a picture of me with a very talented bunch of authors (including my old friend Siobhan Parkinson on the far left) illustrators and organisers at the launch in the Sean Scully room of the gallery.

"Horses and Tortoises, Stories from Africa" is a collection of 10 short stories for children, written and illustrated by women from the African Women’s Network, with assistance from writer Siobhan Parkinson and artist Felicity Clear. The project is part of the Hugh Lane Gallery’s community programme, and the purpose of the book is to provide a resource through which Irish children can learn about traditional African culture. It will be sent to every primary school in the country, as well as to libraries, but won’t be on general sale – unless a publisher takes it up. Enquiries to Katy Fitzpatrick, education curator, tel: 01-2225553.