Wonders of the Wild

Éanna Ní Lamhna is one of the best-known public figures in Ireland, in particular as a biologist, environmental and wildlife consultant, radio and television presenter, author and educator. Éanna has one of the most instantly recognisable voices on Irish radio and has been for many years a member of the panel of experts on RTÉ’s wildlife programme Mooney Goes Wild. She also served for five years as president of the national environmental charity An Taisce, and is currently president of the Tree Council of Ireland. Originally from Louth, she now lives in Dublin. Éanna is the author of several popular wildlife books, including Talking Wild, Straight Talking Wild, Wild Things at School and Wild Dublin: Exploring Nature in the City, shortlisted for the Reading Association of Ireland Award. Her most recent books, Our Wild World: From the Birds and Bees to Our Boglands and the Ice Caps and Wild and Wonderful: Around the World with Éanna Ní Lamhna were published in 2021 and 2022 by The O’Brien Press.Brian Fitzgerald feels most at home illustrating children’s picture books, encouraged by winning the International Silent Book Competition in Bologna. His most recent books are You Can Do It, Rosie, with author Elena Browne, I Don’t Want To Go To School, Does an Astronaut Drive a Tractor? and Does a Firefighter Fly a Rocket? He has had the pleasure of seeing five of his books brought to life on ‘Vooks’. He lives and works in Dún Laoghaire.

• Spiders Are Cannibals; Eating Their Own Poo (rabbits)Eating Until They Burst (Caterpillars)Forever Flying (Swifts)The Importance of Colour (ladybirds, Cinnabar moth)Pretending To Be Something Else (caterpillars looking like poo, twigs, snakes)Bees as the Goody Goodies; Wasps Are Not BaddiesWhy Frogs Don’t DrownRising from The Dead (dog’s vomit slime mould and other weird things you might find)Slimy and Slithery (slug surprises)War Cries and Love Songs (why birds sing)The Bird with No Nest (cuckoo imposter)A Very Short Childhood (chicks literally leaping into the unknown)Squirrels Don’t HibernateBats and Their Superpowers; A Dirty Job (bluebottles in action)The Flower Prison (trapping flies)Dinner with Difficulty (birds that fish for good but can’t swim)Animals We Love to Hate (badgers, gulls, magpies, foxes)They Feed on Human Blood (from lice to fleas)Glowing Underwater (amazing underwater world)Mancatchers – Amphibians or Reptiles? (lizards and newts)Going Sideways (crabs, lobsters going backwards)Defended by Prickles (hedgehogs)Plants that Eat AnimalsDo Cuckoos Spit? (the froghopper)Washed Up from the Depths (what you might find on the beach and what is it?)Slowcoaches (animals that did not make it to Ireland).

such a brilliant book for curious kids who want to know more about the world around them, and it’s full of surprises about the world of nature, from one of the foremost authorities this country has on the subject