St. Patrick's Day is just a few days away and I find myself wanting to add to my collection of St. Paddy's tales, so I went to my go-to site, Amazon.com and started searching.
Luckily for me, I found this golden nugget, Fiona's Luck, written by Teresa Bateman, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. The story and the illustrations are equally delightful and readers will be enchanted from the very first sentence: "Once, luck was as free to be had in Ireland as sunlight, and just as plentiful."
Bateman uses rich, rhythmic prose to craft a tale of the cunning Fiona, who realizes that the disappearance of all luck from Ireland must be "the work of the leprechauns" and turns the tables on the king of the leprechauns in order to restore luck to Ireland.
The leprechaun king is determined to win their bargain, but Fiona, whose shrewd ruse gains her access to the world of the leprechauns, exactly as she expects, circumvents him at every turn and triumphs in the end. Luck is restored to Ireland and still roams free today.
Well-formed phrases such as "one midsummer's eve," "in a trice," "glorious cavern," and "steeped in luck," not only enrich a young reader's vocabulary, but strengthen inferential and context clues skills as well.
Murphy's illustrations are anchored in greens with muted golden undertones - a constant reminder that the tale is set on the Emerald Isle.
Fiona is an strong, clever, intelligent female character who correctly surmises, "Luck's all well and good, but myself? I'd rather depend on my wits."
Follow the rainbow to find this pot of gold in your local library or at your favorite online book dealer.
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