Ellen Slays Children’s Books Ireland Awards

The talented Ms Ryan

t will come as no surprise to anyone who has read Girls Who Slay Monsters, but Ellen Ryan’s magical, mythical offering has just won the KPMG Book Of The Year.

With illustrator Shona Shirley Macdonald

An award that should sit quite pretty beside her Junior Juries Prize, having scored a dynamic double on the night.

Announced as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin at a ceremony held in Merrion Square, the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards saw an independent panel of judges – with a Young Judge among them – choose six winners from across a wide selection of new releases.

The other four winners were Maggie O’Farrell’s The Boy Who Lost His Spark (Honour Award For Fiction), Steve McCarthy’s The Wilderness (Honour Award For Illustration), Alex Dunne’s The Book Of Secrets (The Éilís Dillon Award), and Feargha Mac Lochlainn’s An Slipéar Gloine (Judges’ Special Award).

Winning the overall Book Of The Year is clearly a major achievement for Ryan – especially given that Girls Who Slay Monsters: Daring Tales Of Ireland’s Forgotten Goddesses is her debut offering – but the Greystones author is most likely even more proud of her Junior Juries Prize, given that it is voted for by the children of Ireland.

With daughter Martha

And let’s not forget the book’s incredible illustrations by Shona Shirley Macdonald too.

We caught up with a delighted Ellen this afternoon, to get a few words on this wonderful win…

When I was a young child, I struggled to concentrate.

I wasn’t good at sums, telling time, or remembering who the Taoiseach was. But one thing I was good at was reading. And that was the foundation on which I built my confidence, and every success in later life.

Children’s Books Ireland recognise this power in reading, and they build on it, too. So, it is a special honour to receive this award. And I’m also honoured to be in the company of such authors who write such beautiful, and necessary stories.

I wish to thank the divinely talented illustrator, Shona Shirley Macdonald, as well as my core team Paula Wood, Rob and Martha Meaney, and Amy Kahlout, and everyone at HarperCollins.

Thanks also to the judges, the incredible junior jury, and everyone at the KPMG Children’s Book Awards, for giving Girls Who Slay Monsters this unparalleled platform. And to every fantastic, fearless bookseller, librarian, blogger, and journalist who has championed the book and spread these stories.

Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my much-valued readers, for believing in Irish gods.

And goddesses, of course. You can find out more about Ellen Ryan in our incredible 2022 interview here.

Awards pics by Julian Behal. Now, go grab a copy of Girls Who Slay Monsters down at Halfway Up The Stairs or The Village Bookshop. Or else.