Towers and Tales Children's Book Festival took place last month in Lismore, county Waterford and thanks to a generous sponsorship from Walker Books, Harper Collins and the authors and ilustrators who attended, Bookbag, our children's book gifting initiative, were able to gift a generous Bookbag library to a local DEIS school - St. Mary's in Dungarvan, Waterford.

The Bookbag books were very well received and highlighted again the huge need for the Bookbag project! Niamh Sharkey hosted a mega monster doodle and received an incredibly warm reception!

The Walker Bear also went down a treat with the students, getting plenty of hugs!

The children were so excited about books, reading and illustration and had even made their own books, illustrations and poems based on Niamh's books.

Our hope is that other book festivals around Ireland will adopt a local DEIS school and donate a Bookbag library as part of their festival, spreading the love of reading and illustration.

This month Bookbag will also be visiting St. Eithne’s GNS (a Senior Girls National School) based in Edenmore in Dublin 5. The school has roughly 220 students in total, with girls ranging in ages from seven to twelve. We've got a great list of books for their library, curated under the theme ‘Go Girl’ which aim to inspire, educate and encourage the girls to reach their full potential. In addition, each student will receive their own book to keep. These books were chosen from Children’s Books Ireland’s annual Inis Reading Guides and were voted on by the students themselves at St. Eithne’s.

Stay posted for more updates coming soon!

Bookbag is a joint initiative of Brown Bag Films and Children’s Books Ireland delivered by Children’s Books Ireland.

Bookbag was initiated by picture book-maker Niamh Sharkey during her term as Laureate na nÓg (2012–2014). Niamh campaigned throughout her tenure for a universal book-gifting scheme, which would ensure that every baby born in Ireland receives the gift of a book in their first year of life. For more info on Bookbag, please visit: bookbag