Craft Chat Childrens Book Publisher: Little Islands

[Pamela Jo]

Like many Irish publishers they will accept unagented manuscripts. Books they published are on long lists for international prizes for which they are justly proud.

Teen & YA

Little Island Books is an award-winning independent Irish publishing company. We publish only great books for children and young adults.

www.littleisland.ie

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​ ​ ​ ​ Dear friends and readers We Celts put winter to bed early. As soon as February arrives, and the snowdrops peep through, we call it spring – weather be damned. In the publishing calendar, the first signs of new shoots come even earlier, as several of the major award longlists start to appear around now. And we’re very pleased to share that so far in 2026, we’ve got FIVE longlistings to celebrate as we see out the winter. But first: anyone for a mermaid bracelet?? Quick! Preorder Ruth Ennis’s excitedly anticipated debut, Shorelines, and get a mermaid bracelet! Shorelines is a YA retelling of The Little Mermaid. Visitors to the Children’s Books Ireland conference in September got the chance to read it early, and the response has been gorgeous. And the cover, art directed by Lauren O’Hara, is a stunner! We’ve partnered with some of our favourite indie bookshops for our preorder offer – see links below. Preorder today to get one of a limited number of mermaid bracelets! “Fierce, tender, furious and kind” – Deirdre Sullivan, author of Savage Her Reply “A stunning, brilliantly crafted piece of work that forces the reader to reflect on what it means to be beautiful both in our world and worlds unknown” – Gráinne O'Brien, author of Solo​ ​

And now for the longlists… KPMG–Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year The CBI awards are among the most prestigious and valued book prizes going. So it’s a real honour to have three books on this year’s CBI longlist: Solo by Gráinne O’Brien Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children, illustrated by Lauren O’Hara, foreword by Colm Tóibín Making It Up as You Go Along: A Children’s Guide to Writing Stories by Patricia Forde, illustrated by Mary Murphy, with guest contributions from Irish authors including Eoin Colfer, Derek Landy, Catherine Doyle (and more!)

​ [td] ​ ​ Spark! School Book Awards The Spark! awards are special because they are chosen by very important people: children. We won our first Spark! award in 2024 for Sam Thompson’s Wolfstongue, and we’re really pleased to have two very different books on this year’s longlist: Let’s Play Rugby! by Gordon D’Arcy and Paul Howard, illustrated by Ashwin Chacko, gets its first awards nod The Brightest Star by Meg Grehan, sequel to the award-winning The Deepest Breath, earned a starred review from School Library Journal USBBY Outstanding International Books The US branch of the International Board on Books for Young People, USBBY, has honoured two of Little Island’s recent books with the very nice title of Outstanding International Books: Giant by Judith McQuoid Solo by Gráinne O’Brien And finally, on a podcast near you… Leon Diop’s publicity tour keeps on going, and he has recently been on two of Ireland’s favourite podcasts to discuss his memoir, Mixed Up: An Irish Boy’s Journey to Belonging. Keep an ear out for more from Leon throughout 2026! ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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See the full CBI longlist

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