IT'S not every day you can get your face painted at a book launch, but then the rowdy crew in Waterstones, in Dublin's Dawson Street, on Wednesday was not the usual book crowd. Ed Miliano was celebrating the publication of the children's book he wrote and illustrated, It's A Jungle Out There, and many of the invitees were under the age of 10.
Ed was surrounded by friends and his wife's family, who included judge Don Bar- rington. Unfortunately, his wife Anne Bar- rington and his children, Aoife and Oisin, couldn't be there on the night as the family has recently moved to New York. Although Ed's own family are from NY, the main reason for the move is Anne's appointment to the UN, following a Department of Foreign Affairs posting.
On home soil, the adult members of the Miliano party included Wolfhound Press chief Seamus Cashman; critic Robert Dunbar; Niall MacMonagle, the teacher behind the Lifelines project; and Brendan Barrington of Lilliput Press who was there for two reasons - Ed is an illustrator for the press and also Brendan's step-uncle.