Wednesday 18 September 2019

Children’s Book Festival 2019

The annual Children’s Book Festival takes place in libraries all over Ireland during the month of October. The festival is the biggest event in the children’s library programme and helps spread the joy of books and reading among children and parents, authors and illustrators, teachers and librarians in all counties. Events are taking place in each of the fifteen public libraries in County Clare. Partnering with schools in their catchment areas, staff are looking forward to welcoming children and teachers to visit, enjoy the events, have fun and read lots of books. During the month children will meet some of their favourite authors, take part in poetry workshops, enjoy exciting children’s theatre shows, take part in science workshops and try their hand at creating a pop-up junior radio studio, as well as participating in writing and story workshops. Teachers are invited to check out the programme on the library website and to contact their nearest library branch to book events for their classes.

Junior classes have many events to choose from including a return visit from Derek Mulveen of Eire’s Kids telling stories of Oisín the Brave from Robot Island or presentations by Gary Ward and Audrey Moore based on their picture books for young children.

Booster Cushion Theatre presents Little Red Riding Hood and Friends in a fast and funny show with lots of slapstick humour and child participation in a not so traditional retelling of this well-loved tale.

Sadhbh Devlin and Tarsila Krüse visit library branches for bumper activity workshops based on their picturebook Bí ag Spraoi Liom! Sadhbh will inspire junior classes to design their own inventions based on her book and Tarsila will demonstrate how to bring them to life through illustration. In separate workshops Tarsila will take children on a drawing journey through their home town inspired by images from her latest book My Little Album of Dublin. Children will be encouraged to create new characters, environments and stories to bring home. Tarsila Krüse is an award-winning children’s books illustrator. She has published seven books to date including My Little Album of Dublin (O’Brien Press) and Ná Gabh ar Scoil! and Percy Péacóg both published by Futa Fata.

Senior classes can choose from a variety of author events including readings by Patricia Forde based on her book The Wordsmith in which the heroine Letta is faced with the daunting task of saving the language as well as the entire culture of her people and where she lives. The Wordsmith is an intriguing and exciting read for older children followed by its newly released sequel Mother Tongue with a launch date of October the 3rd. Both titles are available for borrowing in Clare library branches.

Jane Mitchell’s book A Dangerous Crossing has been described as, ‘An important book, a necessary book, but above all, a brilliantly told story,’ by fellow writer and book reviewer Sarah Webb. In it she tells the story of Ghalib Shenu, a 13-year old Kurdish boy who lives in Syria who has no choice but to leave everything behind and try for a new life elsewhere. Jane will bring the experiences of real Syrian families to life for the children she meets in Clare libraries in a story of astonishing bravery and solidarity in the face of despair.

Recently published author Maeve Devoy will inspire the children who come to her workshops to use their own experiences to tell their stories. Working in teams, children will engage their research skills to create towns, characters and stories to make a book. Maeve’s classes include lots of creative thinking, planning, writing, readings and performances, all enhanced by group work and discussion. Artist, storyteller, and all round funny man Wayne O’Connor is back with his unique take on the books of David Walliams. He will introduce you to the World’s Worst Children in an energetic and fun filled show for 3rd and 4th classes and will explore myths and folktales from around the world in his Stories of Magic and Myth for older children.

Senior classes will have a unique opportunity to see how music and poems enhance the greatest stories in literature during Tony Maude’s performances in Shannon, Sixmilebridge, Miltown Malbay and Ennistymon libraries. Tony is a London based composer, poet and singer. His shows will mesmerize classes and teachers as he introduces us to Shakespeare and Yeats through music, featuring guitar and ukelele, not to mention his wonderful voice. With five studio albums and poetry publications to date, Tony has extensive experience in various educational settings worldwide with adults and young people. As part of his Autumn 2019 tour of libraries and theatres, his Children’s Book Festival appearances in Clare will also be interspersed with poetic riddles, to guarantee an entertaining, stimulating and interactive experience for all.

Four Planet Science workshops will see children explore a range of scientific principles. Library spaces will become Slime Labs where they will discover the science behind polymers and how molecules bond. They will make slime monsters and slime bubbles and other exciting creations learning about chemistry, acid base reactions and test tube science as they work through their experiments.

Clare County Library is especially pleased to welcome Fighting Words as part of the Children’s Book Festival 2019 programme. Founded by Roddy Doyle and Sean Love ten years ago, Fighting Words aims to help children, young people and adults to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. Fighting Words is also about using the creative practice of writing and storytelling to empower children and teenagers to become resilient, creative and successful shapers of their own lives. Four branch libraries will invite classes to create and craft their own stories under the expert guidance of the Fighting Words team of tutors.

And that’s not all! Audio Drama Workshops facilitated by Ann Dalton, writer/producer, are tailored to suit different primary school classes, with discussion and activities based around writing, drama, sound effects and voice recording. Ann will demonstrate how writing for radio differs to other formats and will explore the many ways of telling stories including illustration, comic books, movies, poetry and song. There will be opportunities for children to produce and record their own sound effects in this pop-up version of an RTE Junior Radio Studio! Ann’s workshops are based on research into the use of audio within the primary school curriculum which found that children were able to respond to radio drama in a very creative way using a mix of literacy skills such as talk and discussion, active and collaborative learning, the use of ICT and role play.

Clare County Library looks forward to welcoming teachers and children from schools all over the county to its network of branches for Children’s Book Festival 2019. Full details of events and participating libraries are available at www.clarelibrary.ie and at all library branches.

Wednesday 11 September 2019

A Celebration of Summer Stars at Clare County Library

Clare Library Service is currently inviting thousands of children who have participated in Summer Stars, the summer reading programme for children, to six regional celebration events to celebrate their continued reading during school summer holidays and to encourage them to visit their local library in the months and years ahead. The reading adventure began in libraries nationwide on the 15th of June and ended on the last day of August.

Summer Stars is an exciting reading-based programme which is available annually and is free of charge to children across the country. Librarians along with teachers and their families encouraged children to continue reading and to participate in a range of other fun activities during the summer at local library branches.

Once registered for the programme the aim is for each participating child to read as many books as they wish during June, July and August. All participants receive a Summer Stars Reading Card to record and track their own progress and there are promotional rewards and incentives at various stages as children continue to borrow books from the library. At the end of the programme, all participants are invited to attend an award event where they receive a Summer Stars certificate.

Children and parents were invited to join in the final 2019 Summer Stars events in Kilrush Library on the 7th of September, in Ennis library on 10th with a further celebration taking place on the 24th of September from 5 to 7.30pm. Shannon Library’s event takes place on the 14th of September from 10.30am to 1pm while Ennistymon Library will celebrate Summer Stars on the 21st of September from 10am to 1pm. The last Summer Stars 2019 event takes place in Scariff Library on the 28th of September from 11am to 1pm.

There will be a return visit from Azal the Artist who is looking forward to meeting everyone who has participated in Summer Stars 2019. Where did he come from and how did he get to your library? Bringing his artbox to life, he invites the audience to suggest ideas and inspiration for his pictures that open up new possibilities for stories to be told. The show by Sarah Fuller of Dog and String Theatre incorporates life size puppetry, live drawing and storytelling and is suitable for children of all ages.

Other entertainment includes fun illustration workshops with local artist and librarian Aidan Courtney. If you’ve enjoyed any good movies this Summer then you’re in for a treat. In his Drawing Blockbusters sessions Aidan will show you how to draw your favourite movie characters in quick, easy, step-by-step demonstrations based on your suggestions. His classes, as always guarantee fun, flexibility, and no pressure for all ages. If you are a Paddington Bear, Spiderman or Transformers fan, a Disney Princess, or if you love My Little Pony or any other great movie heroes, we look forward to seeing you.

Aidan also invites you to join in his “Drawing on History” workshops if you prefer to create your favourite fearsome characters. Roman Soldiers, Pirate Queens and many other Awesome Adventurers from your preferred period in history are all on offer. You can sit back and enjoy or copy his step-by-step instructions to create Summer Stars drawings to display at the library or to take home. All Summer Stars participants will be contacted in advance by local branch library staff.