The Kingfisher Treasury of Irish Stories

Sometime during a school visit, children ask how many books I have had published and I have to count the titles out loud so as not to forget any of them.

However, even taking this degree of absent mindedness into account, it was a very pleasant blast-from-the-past when I started to read The Kingfisher Treasury of Irish Stories and found that I was one of the contributors with 'The Flying Lesson'. Indeed it was more than a pleasant blast, it was an ego boost to find myself in such company as Oscar Wilde, Patricia Lynch, Edna O'Brien, Martin Waddell and others of similar rank.

Leaving, for reasons of professional modesty, my contribution out of it, this collection is a wonderful cross section of Irish writing, a mixture of traditional tales retold in traditional style by James Riordan, the selector, side-by-side with Wilde's 'The Selfish Giant'; Edna O'Brien's 'The Leprechaun' with its sassy heroine, Bridget; Patricia Lynch's 'Last Bus for Christmas' and a right up-to-date story 'Traffic Jam' by Frank Murphy.

This variation in content and style gives the collection a unique quality and Ian Newsham's illustrations are excellent. Ideal reading for young people reluctant to take on the burden of a long, continuing narrative.

The Kingfisher Treasury of Irish Stories. Chosen by James Riordan, Illustrated by Ian Newsham. Kingfisher €7.45. Age 10 plus