Favourite childhood books recalled by local writers

WEST Cork writers have contributed to a wonderful project from Cork City Library which doubles up as a gift guide this Christmas.

As part of Library Ireland Week, Cork County Library has launched a booklet entitled  Once upon a time ... which is a compilation of memories of best-loved books.

The memories were gathered by Cork County Library and Arts Service during Children’s Book Festival 2015 and features well-known names, like Graham Norton, Louise O’Neill, Alice Taylor, and Dolly O’Reilly, recalling their favourite childhood reads.

It was produced as a result of a call-out to people of all ages to send in their memories of best-loved books from childhood.  

This was an intergenerational project which aimed to harvest the memories of adults and introduce them to a new generation. 

Louise O’Neill, the Clonakilty-based award-winning writer selected The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, saying she still feels resentful that the tree doesn’t exist!.Graham Norton loved Grimble and Grimble at Christmas by Clement Freud, as the stories made him ‘laugh out loud’.

The book, right, garnered a great response and aims to provide a new generation with the passion to discover the joys of books from the past in their local Cork county library branch. The booklet will be available free at any library branch. And if you’re book-shopping, then it’s a wonderfully useful guide to contemporary reads and classics.