Saint Patricks Day Books

Reviewed by Katherine J. Turcotte

When a little girl named Lauren questions the belief in leprechauns, two leprechauns, Maddy and Be-bub, from a land faraway called Shrilannon, answer her letter and head off on their magical flying shamrock to visit her just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

What a magical tale this is to share with your wee ones just in time for St. Patty's Day!

Laura and the Leprechauns reinforces the use of imagination and creativity - something that children need more than ever in these days of high tech.

Author Amber Kingston writes and illustrates this charming book. Amber enchants the reader by using a variety of mixed mediums which include real photographs, lots of glitter (that children adore) and delightfully colored pencil drawings.

Let Laura and the Leprechauns be a stepping stone to planning a fun-filled day of imagination and play with your children!

Armchair Interviews says: This is a book your children will come back to time and time again!

Reviewed by Eric Zeda (age 9) for Reader Views (1/08)

This story is about a little girl named Laura who believes in leprechauns. Her friends tell her that leprechauns do not exist, so she writes a letter to find out if this is true. Two leprechauns, named Be-bub and Maddy, receive her letter and decide to pay her a special visit. They travel a long distance on their magical shamrock to find Laura and prove to her that leprechauns are real. When they get to her house, they leave clever notes and clues. Laura wakes up on St. Patrick's Day and finds a wonderful surprise. She makes special friends and has a wonderful time.

I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations and pictures are great. I like the way some of them sparkle because they are covered with glitter. I also liked pretending that leprechauns are real and that magical things exist. I recommend "Laura and the Leprechauns" to anyone who likes to believe in magical beings, and likes to use their imagination.

Great book that is well illustrated and edited. Everyone should read this book even if it is not St. Patrick's Day. It is well written book that parents should share with their children.

This is a beautifully illustrated children's book. Laura is a little girl who writes to the leprechauns because she believes in them, but her friends don't think they exist. Two friendly leprechauns receive her letter, and decide they should go visit. They take their magic shamrock and fly day and night to reach her. The leprechauns leave hints for her to figure out they are there. When they finally meet, they enjoy a lovely St. Patrick's Day tea party together by the lily pond.

The story is well written, and moves quickly. The lovely illustrations bring the story to life; my favorite is the one where they are riding their shamrock in the night sky. Many of the illustrations that include the leprechauns are enhanced with glitter, a refining touch. While their meeting occurs on St. Patrick's Day, I would read this story to my boys any time of the year. We are of Irish descent, and leprechauns are always welcome in our house!

"Laura and the Leprechauns" by Amber T. Kingston is an imaginative story and captures the magic of the world of leprechauns. The story is appropriate for reading during any season, and will soon become a St. Patrick's Day favorite.

Amber skillfully used both visual and written communication mediums. The radiant colors used in her stunning illustrations bring life to these legends. Amber uses captivating photographs in overlays with her beautiful paintings depicting the bushes and hedgerows where the leprechauns hide. Twelve of the pages feature sparkling glitter, which will stir up and enhance the creative imagination of the young reader and add to the sparkle and magic of narrative.

Inspired by the imagination of a seven year, Amber takes the reader on an amazing journey as Laura's wish come true. The author's word choice is age appropriate. The illustrations and dialog communicate the wholesomeness of children, through their facial expressions, and the sense of emotion they project. The book reminds the reader, whether young or old, anything is possible when you believe hard enough.

"Laura and the Leprechauns" is a timeless story of belief in Leprechauns and is destined to become a classic in children's literature. This is a book that will endure time. It should be added to school libraries. It will make a perfect gift of any occasion.

During holiday seasons when I taught preschool, I always tried to find the best books possible that explained the origins of the holiday, why it is celebrated, and how people celebrate the holiday today. For St. Patrick's Day, Gail Gibbons ST. PATRICK'S DAY is the best book I have ever come across that gives a thorough explanation of the holiday for young children. The first part of the book explains who St. Patrick was and why St. Patrick's Day is celebrated. The last part of the book describes ways the people (especially in the United States) celebrate the holiday and the meaning of some of the symbols. There is also a kind of epilogue to the main story that briefly describes some of the legends about St. Patrick. Each page of the book only has a few, simple, straight-forward, and easy to read sentences accompanied with large and playful illustrations. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to explain to young children about St. Patrick's Day.

I first bought this book over 6 years ago when my older son was 5. We loved reading it together & we shared it with some friends from overseas so that they would know how American's celebrate St Patrick's Day. I'm actually buying the book again for my two younger children this year to give as a gift. They may be a little young for it now but I believe they will grow to love it like their older brother & I love the idea of reading it as part of our family holiday traditions. Really a great Gail Gibbons book. (My two year old really enjoys Gail Gibbons Thanksgiving book.)

Most or many of the stories like his banishing all of the snakes from Ireland are false. They are the evidence of exaggerated storytelling. Actually he was born in Britain in the fourth century. He was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders and transported to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. He was guided by visions to become a missionary to convert the Irish to Christianity.

Actually, his family were not deeply religious, but most Irish practiced a pagan religion. This was changed due to the activities and beliefs of this saint. Spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of Irish life. I always thought that my mother, Lettie Lane, was Irish. After seeing the PBS special, I am sure of it, though she did not have the lilting dialect, coming from the mountains of Union County. She died when I was seven. Alec was born on March 17. His brother Eric is a 711 child. It is thought that St. Patrick died on this date.

This is a beautifully illustrated, well written, story about the life of St. Patrick and descriptions of how and why we celebrate this holiday. My daughter is very interested in her Irish heritage and read it to her Kindergarten class this year. It was a hit!

This book gives a thorough, yet simple explanation about St. Patrick's Day. Each page has beautiful illustrations and one to three sentences. It gives a simple 2 page intro, then spends 7 pages about who Saint Patrick was, then 14 pages of all the ways people celebrate/symbols (church, leprechauns, shillelagh, harp, cards, sweets, flowers, plays, meal, parties, and parardes), then two pages on celebrating it in the US, and then 3 pages of legends about Saint Patrick. A great introduction for young children.

This is the kind of book my nephews and niece love. It's a great idea to get this with St Pat's coming along. Go and catch a leprechaun!

My husband and I wrote this book based on our family's St Patrick's Day traditions. Our house has been plagued by a leprechaun every March and our children have great fun trying new and different ways to catch him. Of course they never do! We hope this story inspires other children to make clever traps for the leprechauns who visit them on St Patrick's Day, and that the book brings lots of fun to all.

A friend of mine gave us this book, and my kids have LOVED it. They can't wait to build their own leprechaun trap for St. Patrick's Day and have already started discussing what materials they'll use for the task.

It's a sweet, well-written story with adorable illustrations, and I'm sure it will certainly remain one of our favorites even after March 17.

This book taught a lesson about twins switching places. It told you about how if you switch places it could turn into a big problem. But these twin girls figured out a way to solve their problem. And the parade went on! It was a really good book and I think other seven year olds would like it too.

This was a good book, and very fun. I liked that Jessica didn't want to give up playing the drum. And twin switch is always fun to read.

"E is for 'Everybody is Irish,' a favorite saying on St. Patrick's Day. Almost everybody, Irish or not, celebrates this day."

Or so Beverly Barras Vidrine reminds the reader that St. Patrick's Day is all-inclusive in her beautiful, vividly green "St. Patrick's Day Alphabet," illustrated by Patrick Soper and published by Louisiana's Pelican Press.

A teacher can do a fine job of teaching what St. Patrick's Day is all about, using this delightful alphabet book. Not only St. Patrick, but key symbols of Ireland are also illustrated. G is for the green-ness of the Emerald Isle; S is for the shamrock that represents the Holy Trinity, M is for March 17--the day St. Patrick is honored, and I is for Irish, the people of Ireland.

A beautiful bulletin board can be constructed by color-printing these pages for show and tell. K is for Kells and the Book of Kells, T is for the tri-color flag of Ireland, O is for oak from which shillelaghs (walking sticks) are made--great tourist buys in Ireland, H is for Harp, a national symbol of Ireland. See what I mean? A great bulletin board!

Parents interested in the Irish will also delight in sharing this book with their little ones.

This is a really cute book with great illustrations that makes wonderful use of bright colors. It also tells good stories and is imaginative in the objects chosen to represent the individual letters. Being half-Irish, I did find it objectionable that one page said: "B is for beer. The Irish drink lots and lots of that!" HEY ONLY JOKING!!! That's not in here. Shame on me. Seriously, however, this is a pretty book and little ones should love it and parents too. Easily five stars.

This book is perfect for babies & small children. My son is 9 months old & this is one of his favorite books. It has short phrases on each page while teaching numbers & doesn't have a lot of pages. The colors are bright & pictures are cute. The edges of the pages have a shamrock & my son finds it easy to turn the pages. He's also attracted to the cover because the shamrocks are shiny.

This board book makes for a good introduction to St Patrick's Day for younger kids because of it's simple concepts, colorful pictures and sturdy construction. (It can also be used year 'round for it's counting.) "St. Patrick's Day Countdown" is a book that counts backwards from 5 down to 1 using St Patrick's Day theme items and then some; bunnies, shamrocks, a pot of gold... you get the idea. It's also fun because the book is not exactly book shaped but has grabbable shamrock "tabs" so little ones can help turn the pages. I bought this for my one year old niece and her mom said it was "perfect". I like that it does not have hit-you-over-the-head St. Patrick Day overtones (ie. nothing religious) to it but still captures the spirit of the day.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Why do we wear green? And just who is St. Patrick? This book, one of a series of holiday symbols books, answers these questions and more in a clear, concise writing style. One of the best parts of the book, though, is the large, colorful, eye-popping photographs on each page. As a librarian in a K-3 elementary school, this books meets all of my requirements: informative, accurate and eye-catching enough that students will pick it up on their own. I also recommend the remaining books in the series: Easter Bunnies, Thanksgiving Turkeys, Fourth of July Fireworks, Halloween Jack-o'-Lanterns, and Christmas Trees.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Why do we wear green? And just who is St. Patrick? This book, one of a series of holiday symbols books, answers these questions and more in a clear, concise writing style. One of the best parts of the book, though, is the large, colorful, eye-popping photographs on each page. As a librarian in a K-3 elementary school, this books meets all of my requirements: informative, accurate and eye-catching enough that students will pick it up on their own. I also recommend the remaining books in the series: Easter Bunnies, Thanksgiving Turkeys, Fourth of July Fireworks, Halloween Jack-o'-Lanterns, and Christmas Trees.

Excellent story that is beautifully written and illustrated. It captures an important part of our heritage while emphasizing the importance of family tradition and roots. My 8 year old just loved it and I can see my self reading this to her over and over again. The story teaches U.S. history on one level and family sharing on another. The illustrations are beautiful. I strongly recommend this book.

A very sweet story with a lovely message about traditions and remembering your heritage even as changes through the generations blur the past. Well written in a style that respects both the subject and the readers, and lovely illustrations as well. Hope to see more from this author!

Seems surprising that an Englishman and an Australian have written the first history of Ireland's national day! No offence guys - I really like your book. Cronin and Adair are academics, so this is a serious and wide-ranging study. It looks at the rise of the legend of St Patrick, commemoration of the 17th of March in Ireland, and its export with Irish migrants to England, USA, Canada, and Australia. The book raises important questions about the politics of celebrating "Irishness", particularly at key moments of tension in Irish history, such as the 1916 rebellion and the 1970s Troubles. But it is also a tale of mirth and joy, for St Patrick's Day has always been an occasion for merriment and good cheer. Some of the stories will leave you laughing and scratching your head. For example, an Arab troupe once marched in a Montreal parade and won first prize for best entrant. Today the St Pat's festival in Dublin is a HUGE event, which, as Cronin and Adair explain, emerged directly out of Dublin Tourism. St Patrick is still there somewhere, midst the craic and booze. This is a big book, but it has sections about St Pat's Day in different parts of the world at different times. So you can either read the whole thing or pick and choose the bits you fancy. As for me, this book has helped me to understand why St Pat's Day is such a big deal. And it has helped me to appreciate the history of the Irish wherever they have migrated.

I was sent this as a gift ready for St Patrick's Day, and to be honest wasn't sure that there was much to know about 17th March. But wait, this book rocks. It's great, full of anicdotes, reads really well, and kept me full of stories for my Irish friends for days. If you do nothing else this St Patrick's Day, grab a Guinness, put your feet up and read this book. Once you've read this you'll realise that, sure, it's a darlin day to be Irish!

My son loved reading the Bailey School Kids books. I think he's about read them all.