Hello friends, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, we picked a special book for today: Fiona’s Luck, written by Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Kelly Murphy, the tale of a brave and clever woman using her wits to restore the luck of the Irish.

In the beginning, when only leprechauns and fair folk roamed Ireland, there was luck in the air, and it would settle upon the magical creatures like nothing at all. But when the much bigger humans came, they would catch most of the luck and leave the fairies with none. So the king of the leprechauns had his people capture up all the luck, and he kept it under magical lock and key. Unfortunately, with no luck at all, this caused the regular folk to suffer as their cows dried up and their crops turned rotten. One woman named Fiona knows what happened to the luck, and intends to help her people, not with brawn or magic or even luck, but with her quick wit and clever mind – but can she outsmart the leprechaun king?

This was a very cute little tale that was perfect for St. Patrick’s: it’s a great mix of traditional Irish folklore and a strong female protagonist using her brain to save the day. The illustrations are lovely, and definitely capture the look and feel of an Irish fairytale. The length might be a bit long for very young readers, but JJ sat through it fine and older readers definitely could. This one is a fun way to celebrate Irish heritage and folklore today, or any day! Baby Bookworm approved!