On a balmy November’s evening in Dublin it was great to be able to get along to two busy book launches after such a long time of having no launches.

 Ally Bunbury’s fun Christmas read ‘All Wrapped Up’ was launched in The Little Museum by Anne Doyle and then down the road to Hodges and Figgis Bookshop for the launch of my friend P.J. Lynch’s beautiful  new picture book ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ which is based on the famous Robert Frost poem. Eoin Colfer did the honours and it was great to meet up with so many friends.   Both are perfect Christmas books 

One more book I should mention is by talented  young Ukrainian writer Yeva Skalietska  whose wonderful book  ‘You Don’t Know What War Is’ has also only been published.

Twelve year old Yeva recounts what happened when Russian forces began to bomb her home town of Kharkiv, at first they shelter but as things worsen she and her grandmother Irina have to flee, moving to another part of Ukraine. Yeva keeps a diary recording what is happening all around her and her fears and hopes. She and her grandmother make the long journey to Hungary where a journalist sees her writing it and helps them until they eventually come to Ireland. There are maps of her hometown and of the long journey she and her grandmother made   I met Yeva months ago with Irina and she is already trying to make the best of things, settling into her new school and life here.