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.
How an Irishwoman came to write a book about arctic whales!
Where the idea of Sisters came from, and how it developed into the book.
The Leprechaun Who Wished He Wasn't
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Amelia
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No Peace for Amelia
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Sisters ... No Way!
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Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (maybe)
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The Moon King
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Call of the Whales
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Kate
Cindy, a with-it and cynical young teen, still traumatised by her mother's recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own ...
It's 1916 but Amelia Pim's thoughts are on Frederick Goodbody and not on the war in Europe. Then Frederick enlists. The pacifist Quaker community is shocked but Amelia is secretly proud of her hero …
Placed in a foster home which is full of sunshine and goodness, Ricky finds family life difficult. He often retreats to his favourite hideaway, a special chair in the attic, where he becomes the Moon King. Relationships slowly begin to grow ... but sometimes he just wants to leave it all behind.
Laurence is a leprechaun who has been small for 1100 years and is sick of it! He wants to be TALL. He wants to be cool. Then he meet Phoebe, a large girl who wants to be small.
When Kate goes to her very first Irish dancing lesson she is smitten: It's like flying, she decides. It’s the best thing she's ever done. But, coming from a poor family in Dublin's Liberties in the 1930s, how can Kate continue with her dancing? How could she ever afford a fancy dancing costume?
Beverley, Elizabeth, Kevin, Gerard and his cat visit the mysterious Lady Island, expecting some adventure and a little danger. But nothing prepares them for their encounter with the strange inhabitant of the island.
An adventure story set in the endless days of a freezing Arctic landscape, with a haunting presence in the form of the magnificent bowhead whales.
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.
The year is 1914 and Amelia Pim will soon be thirteen. There are rumours of war and rebellion, and Dublin is holding its breath for major, dramatic events. But all that matters to Amelia is what she will wear to her birthday party ...
