Children's author at Woodbine young people's book club

Saoirse Behan of Woodbine Books with author Alison Healy.

One of the Woodbine Books young readers book clubs had a treat today when they had a visit from the author of one of the books they have been reading, writes Brian Byrne.

Alison Healy read from her first children's book, How Billy Brown Saved the Queen and talked with the very engaged group afterwards.

Formerly an Irish Times journalist, for 17 years, Alison took a career break first, and is now a full-time writer and concentrating on new work as well as ghost-writing and freelance journalism.

Her book is illustrated by artist Fintan Taite, whom Alison never even met until the book's launch event. "The publishers just sent me some samples of different illustrators in advance and asked me to pick one," she recalls. "I'm sure they'd have made their own choice no matter who I picked, because they know their business."

The 10-12 years-old group is one of the young people's Book Clubs which are proving very successful for Woodbine, and occasionally there has been standing room only for the sessions.


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