What do you get if you mix some of Ireland’s most brilliant writers and illustrators with some of the country’s most avid readers? Throw in a couple of marquees and a stunning location and you’ve got yourself the ultimate book worm’s day out.
The We Love Books crew made their way to Merrion Square Park for the 35th annual KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards, part of International Literature Festival Dublin, for a day more jam-packed with books than the National Library of Ireland and that’s saying something. It was a fabulous day all round and even the weather played ball, which is also saying something – it must be a fan.
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A throng of 600 school children plus many other writers, illustrators and esteemed guests spilled into the Speranza tent for the main event, hosted by broadcaster and book-lover extraordinaire, Rick O’Shea who did a fabulous job of ramping the excitement up to fever pitch.
Six coveted awards were up for grabs on the day and a total of 169 books had been whittled down to just 10 final contenders. Yes, that DOES mean that the judges had to read 169 books. The entire book? Yes, the entire book. Cover to cover? Yes, cover to cover. That’s a whole lot of reading.
Without further ado, let’s meet some of our winners!
Kelly McCaughrain and Ned McCarthy (front). Photo: Julien Behal.
Belfast YA author Kelly McCaughrain scooped two of the six awards on the day, which isn’t surprising as her debut novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds won an unprecedented three awards at the 2019 awards including Book of the Year. Kelly’s Little Bang picked up the Honour Award for Fiction and the Junior Juries' Award which is chosen by young readers all around the country, about which Kelly says:
Kelly says: "That’s just the ultimate isn’t it because that’s who you’re writing for. Their opinion means so much and they have a lot of demands on their attention so if you write a book that they actually want to read, that just feels really, really special."
This year’s KPMG Book of the Year award went to author Eilish Fisher for her magical and ethereal Fia and the Last Snow Deer, beautifully brought to life by the illustrations of Dermot Flynn. Eilish also took home the prize for Éilís Dillon Prize for debut authors. Was Eilish expecting her big wins?
"It was an absolute shock...amazing and overwhelming and just very excited…. It’s very surreal because writers tend to be very much in their own heads and in their own worlds, that’s how we write… so to then have so many people know your words and read your words and love your words and the characters that have been living in your mind for so long is surreal...but it’s what I’ve always dreamed of."
No stranger to the awards, Steve McCarthy picked up his second KPMG CBI award, the Honour Award for Illustration 2025 for his work with Eoin Colfer on Beanie the Bansheenie. His artistic prowess won him the same award in 2023 for The Wilderness.
So, where will Steve place such a treasured accolade? He says: "In my parent’s house, where the dog sleeps, which doesn’t sound like a very important place but if I’m going put anything very special somewhere, I’m going to put it where the dog sleeps."
Too right. Dogs are an author’s best friend.
Of course a very special award on the day is the KPMG Reading Hero award, given to one young reader who has shown exceptional dedication to books and literacy. This year’s very deserving recipient was 9-year-old Ned McCarthy, a second-class pupil at St Patrick’s De La Salle Boys National School in Kilkenny.
His teacher Miss Schneider who nominated Ned for the award says: "Ned is a fantastic reader...He always put his best foot forward particularly when it came to literary support…Now, Ned is not only a confident and competent reader but he really lifts others up too."
Another big win on the day went to Northern Ireland artist Oliver Jeffers who was awarded the Judges’ Special Awards for wonderful and whimsical picture book, The Dictionary Story which he created in collaboration with Sam Winston. Gráinne Clear from publisher Walker Books accepted the award on behalf of both artists.
Catch all the interviews and atmosphere from the day on We Love Books - available wherever you get your podcasts.
For more great podcasts for young people visit rte.ie/jrpodcasts.
And don't forget to check out the RTÉjr Book Club, with thanks to our friends at Children's Books Ireland, every month.
