As part of the BOLD GIRLS initiative from Children’s Books Ireland they have launched a new BOLD GIRLS Reading Guide and they have shared with us some of the wonderful authors that have contributed to the Guide. We are delighted to Celebrate These 20 Bold Girls Authors:
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The new Children’s Books Ireland BOLD GIRLS Reading Guide is an 88-page publication reviewing 173 children’s books (in English and the Irish language) which feature strong women and girls, for readers aged 0–18, including classics and non-fiction.
There are reviews and information on books that feature female characters with agency, power and opinions, addressing at a young age some of the issues that stand in the way of women achieving their ambitions, whether that be in leadership, in government or in the arts.
These are stories from Ireland and around the globe, featuring pirates, politicians, ponies, polar bears, pilots, princesses and pretty much everything in between, from authors and illustrators ranging from Marita Conlon-McKenna to Roald Dahl to L. M. Montgomery.
The Reading Guide is available online from childrensbooksireland.ie and good bookstores while stocks last.
We have picked out 20 Brilliant Books to Celebrate Bold Girls and here is a bit of background about 20 BOLD GIRL authors from the Guide too:
Bold Girls Authors
#1. Kathi ‘Fatti’ Burke
Photo by Aoife Herrity
Kathi ‘Fatti’ Burke is an illustrator from Waterford, residing in Amsterdam. She has been working as a freelance illustrator since she graduated from NCAD in 2012 with a BDes in Visual Communications.
Visit Kathi’s website at www.fattiburke.com, follow her on Twitter @FattiBurke and on Instagram fattiburke
#2. Anna Carey
Photo by Emma Byrne
Anna Carey is an author and journalist from Dublin. Her first book, The Real Rebecca, won the Senior Children’s Book of the Year prize at the 2011 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Her sixth book, Mollie on the March, is out now.
Follow Anna on Twitter at @urchinette.
#3. Marita Conlon McKenna
Photo by Geraldine Woods
Marita Conlon McKenna has written thirteen children’s books, including the much-loved novel Under the Hawthorn Tree. Her awards include the International Reading Association Award USA and the Bisto Book of the Year Award.
Visit Marita’s website at www.maritaconlonmckenna.com.
You May Also Enjoy 10 things You Didn’t Know About Marita Conlon McKenna
#4. Sarah Crossan
Photo by Rolf Marriott
Sarah Crossan is a multi-award-winning author of many books for young people, including the verse novels The Weight of Water, One and Moonrise. Sarah worked as an English teacher until she became a full-time writer.
Visit Sarah’s website at www.sarahcrossan.com, follow her on Twitter @SarahCrossan and on Instagram at sarahcrossanwriter
#5. Judi Curtin
Photography by Eva Birdthistle
Judi Curtin has been writing since 1999 and has written twenty-five books for children and adults. Her children’s books include the Alice series, the Eva series, Friends Forever and, most recently, Stand By Me.
Visit Judi’s website at www.judicurtin.com, follow her on Twitter @judi_curtin
#6. Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is an award-winning novelist and picturebook creator who’s been making books since 1988. Her picture books include The Sleeping Giant, Izzy and Skunk, There and Owl Bat Bat Owl. Her novels include Dark Warning and Hagwitch.
Visit Marie-Louise’s website at www.marielouisefitzpatrick.com, her blog at www.thebelugasarewatching.com and follow her on Twitter @Marielouisefit1
#7. Patricia Forde
Photo by by Philip Smith
Patricia Forde is an award-winning writer from Galway. She writes books for children in both Irish and English.
Her latest book is The Wordsmith, a dystopian novel that imagines a world where language is restricted to five hundred words.
#8. Claire Hennessy
Claire Hennessy (born 1986) is the author of twelve books for teenagers, most recently Nothing Tastes as Good and Like Other Girls. She also works as an editor and a creative-writing facilitator.
Visit Claire’s website at www.clairehennessy.com, follow her on Twitter @chennessybooks and Instagram chennessybooks
#9. Yasmeen Ismail
Photo Jake Green
Yasmeen Ismail is an Irish-born author–illustrator living in Bristol. Her award-winning picture books are published worldwide. She loves to experiment with her work and is always trying new ways to improve her writing and drawing.
Visit her website at www.yasmeenismail.co.uk, follow her on Twitter @YasmeenMay and on Instagram yasmeeny
#10. Lucinda Jacob
Lucinda Jacob is a poet, illustrator, author of fiction for young people and creative-writing facilitator. Her most recent book is Hopscotch in the Sky (Little Island Books/Poetry Ireland), a collection of seasonal poems for children.
Follow Lucinda on Twitter @lucindajwriter and on Instagram at lucindajacobwriter
#11. Celine Kiernan
Photo by by Grace Kiernan
Celine Kiernan was born and raised in Dublin. Her books combine fantasy with political, humanitarian and philosophical themes. They’ve won the RAI Best Book Award twice, the CBI Book of the Year Award and Children’s Choice Award, and have been included in The Irish Times best children’s books of the past twenty-five years.
Visit her blog celinekiernan.wordpress.com, follow her on Twitter @Celine_Kiernan and on Instagram at celine_kiernan
#12. Jane Mitchell
Jane Mitchell is an award-winning writer of books and short stories for young readers. Her most recent book A Dangerous Crossing is a powerful and timely account of one boy’s flight out of Syria.
Visit Jane’s website at www.janemitchell.ie and follow her on Twitter @JMitchellwriter
#13. Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy is an author and illustrator of more than 40 books, mainly for preschoolers. Besides working, she loves hiking, yoga, dogs, reading, tea and coffee with (or without) friends.
Visit Mary’s website at www.marymurphy.ie
#14. Áine Ní Ghlinn
Áine Ní Ghlinn has won a range of awards for children’s and YA fiction. Daideo and Hata Zú Mhamó both won Irish Language Book of the Year.
Daideo also won a CBI Book of Year fiction award and Literacy Association of Ireland Book of the Year.
#15. Louise O’Neill
Photo by Miki Barlok
Louise O’Neill is the best-selling, multi-award-winning author of Only Ever Yours and Asking For It. Her next two novels, Almost Love and The Surface Breaks will be published in 2018.
Follow Louise on Twitter @oneilllo and Instagram oneilllou
#16. Siobhán Parkinson
Siobhán Parkinson writes mostly fiction, mostly for ten- to twelve-year-olds, mostly in English, which leaves lots of room for exceptions. She was the first Laureate na nÓg and is also a publisher (Little Island Books) and a translator.
Visit Siobhán’s website at www.siobhanparkinson.com
#17. Niamh Sharkey
Niamh Sharkey is an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s picturebooks. Her books have won numerous awards including the prestigious Mother Goose Award and the Bisto Book of the Year. Niamh was Ireland’s second Laureate na nÓg 2012–14.
Visit Niam’s website www.niamhsharkey.com, follow her on Twitter at @sharkeytweets and on Instagram Sharkeydoodles
#18. Deirdre Sullivan
Deirdre Sullivan is a writer from Galway. She has published five books for young adults and ghostwritten three books in the Nightmare Club series. Her most recent book, Tangleweed and Brine (illustrated by Karen Vaughan), is a collection of dark retellings of old stories.
#19. Sarah Webb
Sarah Webb is an award-winning champion of children’s books, a writer and a creative-writing teacher. Her book about remarkable Irish women who changed the world, Blazing a Trail, is published in 2018.
Visit Sarah’s website www.sarahwebb.ie, follow her on Twitter @sarahwebbishere and on Instagram sarahwebbwriter
#20. Sheena Wilkinson
Sheena Wilkinson, described as ‘one of our foremost writers for young people’ (The Irish Times), is an award-winning writer of contemporary and historical fiction, most recently Star by Star.
Visit Sheena’s website at www.sheenawilkinson.com, follow her on Twitter @sheenawriter
About the BOLD GIRLS project
For the centenary of women’s suffrage in Ireland in 2018, Children’s Books Ireland’s BOLD GIRLS project celebrates strong, confident, intelligent, brave women and girls in children’s books, giving them much-needed visibility alongside their male counterparts.
BOLD GIRLS aim is to break down societal barriers and to instil confidence in girls and young women by showing them female characters in children’s books with agency, power and opinions, addressing at a young age some of the issues that stand in the way of women achieving their ambitions, whether that be in leadership, in government or in the arts.
BOLD GIRLS will highlight and review books that feature strong, intelligent, self-possessed female protagonists in children’s books, as well as celebrating twenty female Irish authors and illustrators, both emerging and established, who have made an exceptional contribution to the canon of Irish children’s literature.
As part of the initiative BOLD GIRL partner Trinity College Dublin will celebrate the fantastic skill and artistry of Irish women writers and illustrators of children’s texts with an exhibition entitled Story Spinners: Irish Women and Children’s Books in the Long Room of the Old Library. BOLD GIRLS events will take place across the country, and schools will be able to download a free BOLD GIRLS Resource Pack.
Visit the Children’s Books website at www.childrensbooksireland.ie, find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/childrensbooksireland, on Twitter @KidsBooksIrel, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/kidsbooksirel and follow the hashtag #BOLDGIRLS.
About the Author: Jill Holtz
