literary Ireland

Here are some literary things that I came across while in Ireland.

The stairs to one branch of the Dublin Library. Why not advertise books on your stairs? This branch happened to be on the second floor of a shopping center.

This was at a ceramic exhibit at the National Botanic Gardens. Cathy Dineen put a short story on her ceramic tiles.

At the Chester Beatty Museum, there were a lot of old pages from ancient books.  This is some Scripture from the third century.

A poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins hanging in a garden in Carlow. My garden might need a sign like this, too.

This is a machine that prints out a story, poem or comic on demand (see Short Edition website). The comic I got was about neighborhood cats.

There was Red Bookshop in Wexford.  Every room in the store was this packed.

In Dublin, the National Library had an exhibition about poet Seamus Heaney. These are some of his notebooks with his poetry.

Ireland

Here are a few pictures of my trip to Ireland.  I only visited the southeastern part to minimize time on the bus or train.

 

A view on the cliff walk by Howth (north of Dublin). The water you see is the Irish Sea. This walk was one of the best things I did on my trip.

the River Barrow outside of Carlow

castle remains in Carlow

A Polish grocery in Wexford. Ireland has sizable immigrant populations from other European countries in some of the cities I visited. 

A Ferguson tractor at the Irish Agricultural Museum on the Johnstown Castle grounds. Harry Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson tractors, was born in Ireland. This museum was one of the most interesting ones that I visited on my trip.

 

One of the clocks at the Irish Museum of Time in Waterford. There are over 600 clocks, and soon they are adding hundreds of cuckoo clocks to their collection.

It was fun to learn about the country of Ireland firsthand.

summer reading suggestions

Here are a few of the books I recommend anyone over the age of 10 to read. Most likely you would find them among juvenile novels in a library or bookstore, but the stories also have a strong appeal to adults.

Olivetti by Allie Millington is one I read this winter/spring. The story is told partly by Olivetti, who happens to be a typewriter. It is about friendship and family.

A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser is about June and Tyrell, who live at a homeless shelter. Tyrell has been there for a few years, but June is new. A book that gives a person reason to think and also understand better the life of children in such situations.

Twenty and Ten by Claire Bishop is a story of some children in France who help hide Jewish children from the Nazis during World War II. My sixth-grade teacher Miss Milner read this to our class.

The Winter King by Christine Cohen is a book I wrote about here. I plan to reread it this summer.

Do you have any recommended books for summer reading?

The Bletchley Riddle

 

The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin is a juvenile novel that adults would also enjoy.  Lizzie and her brother Jakob live in England at the start of World War II.  Lizzie is supposed to be go to America to be with her grandmother.  She figures out how to remain near her brother Jakob so she can also try to find out what happened to their mother.  This book has adventure and mystery rolled together to give readers another perspective on World War II that I haven't seen in many novels.  It would make a decent read aloud to older elementary or middle school students.

pictures

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Denmark.

the changing of the guard at the king's palace in Copenhagen

view of Kolding from the roof of Koldinghus

the sea and the bridge that connects Funen (Fyn) and Zealand islands

view outside my hotel window in Nyborg

Nyborg Castle-I only saw the outside of the castle because they are doing renovations.

part of the Botanic Gardens in Copenhagen

The Art of Talking with Children

 

If you work with children or have children or grandchildren, The Art of Talking with Children is worth reading.  Rebecca Rolland has done a great job at giving suggestions on how you can have conversations with children that will make them think and grow.  She addresses children from preschool all the way through adolescence.