I have done my best to turn my children into avid readers, the kind of reader I was, the kind who used books as an escape. At their age I was eating books. Or maybe that’s just what it felt like. The food scenes in Enid Blyton were always favourites. All that ginger beer swilled among castle ruins and egg sandwiches nibbled on the train home from boarding school. You’d be ravenous reading with the torch under the covers.
My daughters like reading but it doesn’t seem urgent with them, Maybe my children don’t feel the need to escape, which is a comforting thought. I’m also competing with a load of YouTubers with names such as Kasey and Beckie.
We recently got a wall of bookshelves installed and I am hoping that being faced every day with my eclectic book collection and the entire Encyclopedia Britannica – “that was the internet, when I were a lass” – might work.
Sometimes though the universe creates opportunities that chime with your own parenting ambitions. This week a new (very old) library was officially reopened on Dublin’s Kevin Street and the girls were invited to sing there with their school in front of the Lord Mayor of Dublin Nial Ring and Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring.
(The Lord Mayor, by the powers he claims were invested in him by the city of Dublin, decreed that the whole school had no homework that night. He has my daughters' vote forever.)
The Kevin Street Library has been beautifully restored by the city architect Ali Grehan and her team – the light and colour everywhere is sublime. What also caught my eye were the art pieces, colourful wordscapes really, strategically placed high up on vast white walls.
“When in doubt, go to the library” reads one.
“Paradise will be a kind of library.”
“A library is a hospital for the mind.”
I like that last one very much.
So if you have children that you’d like to encourage to read more bring them to that beautiful library and let them explore. If the books aren’t enough of a draw, tell them about the slide. (In big news, Kevin Street Library now has an actual slide).
Speaking of books, a family festival at Airfield Estate, Dundrum, is the place for readers and future readers to be this weekend.
The first Dubray StoryFest family book festival aimed at children under 12 will take place on Saturday, September 29th.
This will be a day of interactive author and illustrator events, storytelling and story-writing, doodling, drawing, dancing, music, art and craft, book-inspired yoga, face-painting and events as Gaeilge.
StoryFest will run from 10am-5pm, with simultaneous events for different ages and interests taking place in sites across the estate’s urban farm and gardens.
Highlights include:
- Cathy Cassidy making friendship jewellery
- Drawing with Don Conroy
- Peter Donnelly, author and illustrator of The President's Glasses
- Meet Rabbit and Bear with Julian Gough
- Chris Judge, author and illustrator of The Lonely Beast
- Former Laureates na nÓg PJ Lynch and Niamh Sharkey
- Oisín McGann of Mad Grandad family
- A family draw-along with Alan Nolan
- Máire Zepf and Tarsila Kruse leading storytime as Gaeilge
There's also a Parents' Corner featuring TV presenter Maia Dunphy talking about the funny side of parenting, and Dubray children's bookseller Lorraine Levis doing a talk on encouraging babies and toddlers to love books. Child psychologist Joanna Fortune will be looking at the power of the bedtime story and managing screen time, and Siobhán Berry from MummyCooks.com and Ciara Attwell from My FussyEater.com will give advice on great family food.
In what sounds like a totally unmissable event Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is planning a talk called Being a Legend: Life and Parenting Tips featuring his new book, Dancing with the Tsars.
The day will culminate in the StoryFest Extravaganza! at 3pm, featuring music from Inni-K and the Supertones Choir and contributions from many of the authors of the day, followed by a book signing.
Visit dubraybooks.ie/storyfest for more details.
Some other events this weekend
The Last Picnic
Mountjoy Square, Dublin; Sunday, September 30th, 1-5pm
This is always an action-packed day out for the whole family, think of it as the last outdoor hurray before the weather starts to really conspire against us. All activities in the park are free including the Artane Senior Band, Magic Corner with sillybilly.ie, rock climbing, fencing, inflatable football pitch and loads more.
Cirque Berserk!
Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 28th, 29th and 30th, at 2pm, 5pm and 7.30pm on various days; €16-€33; 01-6777999, justask@bgetheatre.ie
Once you get your head around the fact that this circus troupe is on a stage instead of a tent, this is a diverting night out. A highlight is the Globe of Death, in which men on motorbikes seem to defy gravity. Raucous good fun.
