Where's Wally? At MALAHIDE HAS IT festival...

Village Books, the bookshop at the heart of the community in Malahide, were delighted to be one of the official supporters of the MALAHIDE HAS IT Festival. Always great supporters of children's reading, we came up with a fantastic fun event for children to tie-in with the festival and get them reading even more.

As part of the MALAHIDE HAS IT weekend, we sent Wally, star of the Where’s Wally? books, roaming around Malahide on Saturday afternoon, July 24th, checking out the festivities. We invited children to keep an eye out for the famous red and white stripy jumper and hat because if they spotted him, and spoke to him, they were given a fantastic voucher for a free Where's Wally? book to be collected from Village Books. Easy Peasy! 

At 2pm sharp the search was on as children all over Malahide kept their eyes peeled and sought high and low for that elusive but distinctive character Wally! Wally, who was trying to remain  anonymous, sauntered around Malahide village for a few hours in his red and white striped jumper, those striking black glasses, bobble hat and eccentric cane and for every lucky child that found him, which was not easy given the crowds that turned up in the village for the festival, they were rewarded with a free Where's Wally? book voucher. 

It wasn't long until a large group of children spotted the famous children's book character wandering amidst the revelry on the green and the chase was on, as they raced across the green to him, poor Wally ran for his life but was ultimately caught by the speedy and tenacious youngsters and vouchers were distributed to the delighted children who immediately made their way up to Village Books to collect their free books. 

Hat back on, and skew-whif jumper rearranged, Wally continued his tour of the village but as the word spread he was spotted by more eagle-eyed children who had been eagerly waiting for a sighting and with screeches of delight he handed out more book vouchers to the excited fans, even posing for a number of pictures along the way.

By 2.30pm Village Books was fast filling up with children collecting their free books, with over 200 vouchers to give out though Wally's work was not done. He continued on up New Street, swiftly avoiding the lure of Gibneys, only to be sighted again and as children high-fived him and claimed their reward crowds were beginning to gather. There's really no hiding when you look as super-sophisticated as Wally so by 3pm almost 100 free book vouchers were given out and the ladies in the book shop were kept busy handing over the books to the lucky kids who'd spotted and chatted to the famous hide-and-seek champion. 

Stopping for some sustenance, kindly provided by the genial Peter in the form of marshmallow flogs (Wally's favourite food), he continued on his way, heading back down to the green again to check out the children's art competition which Siobhan was managing with aplomb. As soon as the children caught sight of him though the chase was back on! Another hour later and there were another very happy 100 children who had cashed in their vouchers for free books in Village Books and Wally was fit to drop! 

With a smile on his face, and a slight ache in his legs he happily returned to Village Books to say hello to the children who were still collecting books, thank Mary, Orna, Siobhan, Peter and Sadashni for all their hard work, pose for a few last photos and be on his way once more, this time to get lost for a bit longer!

It was a fantastic afternoon, that saw hundreds of children absolutely delighted to not only meet their children's book hero, but also to receive a wonderful free book from Village Books for their efforts. 

Who knows, Wally may be back again soon... keep your eyes peeled! 

Booker Long List 2010

The 2010 Booker prize long list was released yesterday.

Peter Carey Parrot and Oliver in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue Room (Pan MacMillan - Picador)

Helen Dunmore The Betrayal (Penguin - Fig Tree)

Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Grove Atlantic - Atlantic Books)

Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Publishing Group – Headline Review)

Tom McCarthy C (Random House - Jonathan Cape)

David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Zacob de Zoet (Hodder & Stoughton - Sceptre)

Lisa Moore February (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Paul Murray Skippy Dies (Penguin - Hamish Hamilton)

Rose Tremain Trespass (Random House - Chatto & Windus)

Christos Tsiolkas The Slap (Grove Atlantic - Tuskar Rock)

Alan Warner The Stars in the Bright Sky (Random House - Jonathan Cape)


For details http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

Review: Festival fun at the Village Books Junior Art Competition

What a turnout on Saturday for the Village Books art competition at the 'Malahide has it' Festival on the Green!  And what creative talent too!  It was brilliant to see such a range of storybook characters being drawn (without us suggesting!) like Angelina Ballerina, Princess Poppy, Captain Underpants, Horrid Henry, The Famous Five and a few old favourites such as Snow White and Cinderella.  

Not only is Malahide full of budding readers,  we have great artists too!

Overall Winner, Hickory Dickory Dock by Dara Fine 

We had a prize giving that afternoon, however a few people couldn't make it back for it.  So if you see your name below and you haven't received your prize yet, please drop into us in Village Books!

Rachael & Sarah Pye with their drawings
of Spongebob and the Faraway Tree

Dara Fine age 10 (Overall winner)

Laragh Featonby age 10

Rachael Pye age 10

Maya Keyes age 9

Therese Shannon age 8

Ciara Scully age 8

Sarah Pye age 7

Christopher 

Aimee age 7

Alex Irwin 

Mia Challoner age 5

Overall Winner; Dara Fine

A BIG congratulations to all our winners and to everyone that took part!

Rover & the Gigglers
 by Ciara Scully

The Centipede
from James & the Giant Peach

Dublin named 'city of literature'

Dublin has been named the UN city of literature. Here is an article from The Irish Times.
Dublin named 'city of literature'

STEVEN CARROLL

Mon, Jul 26, 2010

Dublin has today been designated a city of literature by the cultural arm of the United Nations, Unesco. It is the fourth city to receive the award.

Minister for Culture and Tourism Mary Hanafin said Dublin was granted the accolade “because of the rich historical literary past of the city, the vibrant contemporary literature, the variety of festivals and attractions available and because it is the birthplace and home of literary greats”.

The title was bestowed on Dublin by Unesco director-general Irina Bokova. The previous recipients of the title, which is permanent, are Edinburgh, Melbourne and Iowa City.

A detailed application for the designation was made to Unesco last November by a group led by Dublin City Council’s library service. Unesco was also lobbied by political and cultural bodies from Ireland.

Ms Hanafin said the designation would be a welcome boost for cultural tourism in Dublin in the coming years.

“Dublin is now part of the Unesco creative cities network and there will be numerous opportunities to showcase all that is happening on the cultural and literary fronts in the months and years ahead,” she said.

“Being one of only four cities in the world to achieve the status of Unesco city of literature, will enable Dublin to increase its market share of tourists and attract more people to both the city and the island of Ireland.”

The National Library of Ireland, Dublin City Council and the Arts Council have all welcomed the news.

“Literature has the unique power to distinguish us as a culture and as a people. It helps us understand what it means to be human. In Dublin, the city has been defined by its writers, and continues to be remade and discovered through their words,” Arts Council director Mary Cloake said.

© 2010 irishtimes.com

Check out the new city of literature website http://www.dublincityofliterature.com/

Don't forget to join us for some festival fun!

Don't forget to join us tomorrow (Sat 24 July) on the Village Green as part of the 'Malahide has it! Festival'.  We'll be there from 2pm with crayons, pencils and an artistic flair at the ready, waiting for you to draw us your favourite storyboard character.  Prizes to be won!


Not only that as part of the ever popular 'Where's Wally' series, Wally will be wandering around the village and if you find him, make sure to say hello and you will get a token to exchange in Village Books for your free gift!

When Cuba came to Village Books

Inspired by Michelle Jackson’ s 3rd novel ‘One Kiss in Havana’, we decided to bring Cuba to Village Books, as well as Michelle and ‘just a few’ booklovers.

Michelle signed copies of her new novel to a packed out shop, full in the flow of mojitos and salsa beats.

The fiesta continued next door in That's Amoré where a fine spread of Cuban cuisine was enjoyed by all. Followed by a salsa lesson which we’d like to think justified the big slice of cake afterwards!

We had great fun and here in Village Books we feel that maybe we’re on to a good thing… perhaps Brazil, samba and caipirinha’s next? And not forgetting a book!

Cuban Night Out

Preparations for tonights "Cuban Night Out" are well underway. Buena Vista Social Club was downloaded from itunes. The Village Books staff have been intensely discussing the best recipe for Mojitos. Fifty copies of "One Kiss and Havana" are ready for Michelle Jackson to sign tonight. VIVA CUBA