A witty and engaging account of a visit to the weird and wonderful city of Dublin, where Michelle's country cousins struggle to understand the curious local customs.
Sinéad and Dara, Michelle's country cousins, come up to 'the big smoke' to visit Michelle and her mum.
The bright lights and fast life of the big city take her cousins by surprise, but Michelle delights in showing off her cosmopolitan ways!
A witty and engaging account of a visit to the weird and wonderful city of Dublin, where Sinéad and Dara struggle to understand the curious local customs. Red Flag 11
Having grown up in Galway and Donegal, Siobhán Parkinson has lived most of her adult life in her native Dublin. She studied English literature and German at Trinity, and went on to take her doctorate in English literature. She has worked for many years as an editor, a profession that very closely resembles that of writing. She concentrates more on her writing these days, but is also a very active member of the writers-in-schools scheme, and she gives workshops in creative writing and talks on her work in all sorts of situations. She has held various writing residencies and has been editor of, Inis -- The Children's Books Ireland Magazine, and Bookbird, the IbBy International magazine. Her books have won numerous awards and been translated into lots of languages, her favourites being Latvian, because it is so different, and Japanese, because it is back to front. Her husband, Roger Bennett, is a woodturner and teacher, and her son Matthew is almost grown up. Being her son didn't do him too much harm, he claims, but time will tell. Her book Sisters ... no way! won the Bisto Book of the Year award. Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (maybe) won a Bisto Merit Award. Siobhán's next book, The Moon King, also won a Bisto Merit Award and was on the iBbY Honour List 2000, in Ireland's first year as a member of iBbY. Siobhán was Ireland's first Laureate na nÓg (Children's Laureate) from 2010-2012.
'Set in anecdotal chapters, the dialogue between the cousins is bouncy and entertaining, making this a good starter read-alone.'
'This is a pleasant variant of the 'town mouse, country mouse' fable, set in modern Dublin.'
'Michelle in Animals Don't Have Ghosts was declared "really good" by my seven-year-old who loved the story of know-all Michelle and her country cousins, Dara and Sinead, who have a day out in Dublin, taking in the Natural History Museum, St Stephen's Green and a shopping centre with escalators.'
'Action packed'
'... a freshness and a sense of humour ... which is very appealing'