Tomorrow! St. Padraig’s Day is TOMORROW!!
Sadly, here in the U.S.A., this special day has been twisted into ‘make-fun-of-the-Irish-Drinking’.
St. Patrick changed the history of Ireland back in the 400s AD. Through his understanding and compassion for the Irish people, Patrick converted the culture of druid pagan to Christianity. Here is a web site about St. Patrick: Just Who Was ST. Patrick?
This post is in praise of an ingenious series of books by Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl. What is so great about this series?
The setting is Ireland, and the main character is the human evil genius child Artemis Fowl. The son of a wealthy family, the twelve-year old Artemis has turned his brilliance to capturing a leprechaun, one Holly Short, captain of an elite squad of LEPs.
The Fey world is alive and kicking in this series. The leprechauns are not naughty little mischievous gold stealers/hoarders. Oh, no. The leprechauns are an elite squad of top-notch covert operators whose missions are all directed at keeping the humans away from their world.
 |
| A message written in Gnomish |
There are other members of the Fey world, some very unsavory and some cooperative assistants.
 |
| This is a student rendering of the world beneath Ireland... |
The list of Eion Colfer’s books in this series is long and delightful. There is a marvelous web site where readers will truly enjoy themselves.
Go to this site when you have time to spare!
Go to this site when you have time to spare!
This series delighted me, as an Irish person and as a teacher. It is difficult or even nigh impossible to find titles like these that will engage reluctant readers. Boys especially are reluctant to venture into books at that middle-school age. The Artemis Fowl series was a hit. Each page has a line of ‘gnomish’ symbols that can be interpreted to give a message to the reader.
So, in praise of Ireland and its patron saint, check out this web site and enjoy these books!
