The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh

The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh by Janet Nolan, illustrated by Ben F. Stahl (Albert Whitman & Company, 2002). 

This is a lovely book about a family heirloom that gets passed down from generation to generation.  It starts with Fergus, a boy in Ireland during the potato famine who must immigrate to America with his family. He cuts a branch from a blackthorn tree to bring a piece of his country with him and whittles it into a shillelagh, or walking stick. Every St. Patrick's Day he tells his son his story of leaving Ireland. This tradition gets passed down through the generations until we see young Kayleigh being told the story by her grandfather. This is a great book to use for teaching about family history.

For more St. Patrick's Day children's books, you can check out my Pinterest board here. 

Also, if you need some good Celtic music, I recommend AccuRadio.  They have several different stations, such "Songs of the Sea," "Celtic Legends," "First Fiddle," and "St. Paddy's Party." I swear I'm not being paid, I just really love their options! I think Irish music is so beautiful and whenever I hear it, I feel connected to my Irish roots. (Although only 16% according to AncestryDNA.) 

Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day with some good craic!

This is Ireland

This is Ireland by Miroslav Sasek (Universe, 2005). 

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I thought it would be fun to take a look at this book. This is a reprint of Sasek's original book in the 1960s.  The vintage drawings are fun, but what's interesting is how current the images are in many ways.  I did an Irish study abroad program in college back in summer 2007 so it was fun seeing a lot of the landmarks I saw then.

Below are the famous Cliffs of Moher, both the illustration and a photo I took.

Lough Leane in Killarney 

The colorful houses of Dublin

I hope everyone has a fun St. Patrick's Day!  

For more Irish children's books, check out my Pinterest board.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is my Pinterest board of St. Patrick's Day/Irish children's books.

I also love this collection of Irish books and movies for girls at A Mighty Girl.

I'll leave you with some great Irish illustrations.

Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer

Guleesh: A Picture Story from Ireland by Joseph Jacobs, illustrated by William Stobbs

Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman, illustrated by Kelly Murphy