Children's book reviews: From teen’s musical dreams to ‘fin facts’ about stinky sharks

Pet O’Connell rounds up a selection of the latest children’s books, including how a schoolgirl goes all out to see her name in lights, plus an amusing guide to the ocean’s top predators

‘From the Top, Sally Flynn’, by Méabh Collins, will help children to realise they should never give up on their dreams. Picture: Steve Langan

From the Top, Sally Flynn by Méabh Collins (O’Brien Press, €11.99)

It’s a tough job being the central character in a children’s book. If you’re not an underdog destined to battle demons or human oppressors, you’re being used as a mouthpiece through which the author can voice their personal opinions.

A flawed central character, though, is infinitely more fascinating, once readers can relate to your vulnerability.

In the case of Sally Flynn, latest creation of Dublin author Méabh Collins, taking the role of central character is her heart’s desire but a blind refusal to take the advice of those who care about her is a trait which tries the patience of friends, family, and readers.

Living in the shadow of the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, 14-year-old Sally is so obsessed with musicals that her closest friends introduce a rule limiting the days they will listen to her talking about the subject to one per week.

Rather than reflecting on her achievement when, as unofficial understudy, she stepped into the leading role in the school musical, allowing the show to go on, she fixates on a peer reviewer’s description of her performance as “somewhat overzealous” and develops a personal grudge against student reviewer Naomi Lewis.

When she decides to write her own musical, friends and family have cause for concern, as they can see what Sally declines to acknowledge: The theme, symbolism, and emotions in the musical draw heavily on the death of Sally’s mother five years previously.

Her dad thinks it’s a cry for help; her friend Ethan fears where this will lead; but she ploughs on regardless. 

Her chief supporter is her music teacher Mr Lyons, who provides inspiration and encouragement, acknowledging the important role artistic expression can have in the processing of grief.

Unknown to anyone, Sally indulges in a secret pastime where, dressed in her mother’s clothes, she imagines herself as a Broadway star doing celebrity interviews. 

Among her red-carpet dreams, she makes a note to herself to give Mr Lyons special mention in the acceptance speech for her first Tony Award.

It seems Sally might be taking her first steps on the road to stardom when she is accepted onto a summer course at the Lir academy. 

Rocking up in a feather boa on the first day, the only person dressed in costume, she gives her singing performance everything she’s got. 

“High energy” is how the course leader describes it. The response from her peers is “tepid” and, with many of those on the course well on their way to acting careers, theatre agents already hired, Sally starts to feel out of her depth.

What she really doesn’t need — to turn her dream opportunity into a nightmare — is the appearance on the course of none other than Naomi.

With her determination to succeed on stage becoming all-consuming, Sally’s relationships with Ethan and even with her endlessly patient dad come under strain.

Every star needs a strong supporting cast, though, and as her story reaches its final dramatic act, that backing comes from unexpected sources.

As a central character, Sally is both frustrating and amusing in her inability to see what’s in front of her eyes. 

Regardless of whether she gets to see her name in lights, her story is a triumph for enthusiasm and adherence to the adage that if one fails, one should at least fail while daring greatly.

Tic Teaic Tiú/Gugalaí Gug! le Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin (Futa Fata, €12.95)

“Tic teaic tiú, péire bróga nua. Cuirfidh mise tairne, is cuirfidh tusa crú.”

Traditional Irish songs A Nóra Bheag, cá raibh tú aréir? and Haigh didil dum, an cat is a mháthair sit alongside original rhymes from Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, including the titular Gugalaí Gug!, in two little hardbacks, new from Futa Fata.

Six rhymes per book, illustrated by the Cartoon Saloon, can — at the push of buttons neatly embedded into the pages — be heard recited or sung as the words are read.

Recorded in 2005-06 by singers including Caitlín Ní Chualáin and pupils of Scoil Sailearna in Indreabhán, with music by John Ryan, the original CD and book featured 30 rhymes and songs.

Two decades later, a second generation of pre-school children can get their hands on these mini-selections themselves, without need of CD players.

More please, and perhaps Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne might follow suit with a new edition of their much-loved Munster Irish rhyme collection Rabhlaí Rabhlaí.

The World According to Sharks by Christian Talbot and Sophie Hodge (Puffin, €15.60)

Sand tiger sharks sometimes eat their siblings while still in the womb: True. Greenland sharks can live for around 500 years: True. Epaulette sharks can walk on land and survive for over an hour with little or no oxygen: Also true.

When basking sharks living off the Irish coast migrate, they start singing lonesome songs about missing the Emerald Isle: Not strictly factual but it adds to the overall mayhem in this whacky guide from the creators of webcomic The Life of Sharks.

Putting funny words into the mouths of big fish is their game and, through Shark News bulletins and Fin Facts, many of them stranger than fiction, illustrator Sophie Hodge and Dublin native and sometime stand-up comedian Christian Talbot aim to entertain and enlighten readers about these mysterious creatures.

We’ve heard of US navy seals but it’s a sometimes forgotten fact that during the 1960s the US navy tried to train sharks to serve as underwater bombers by implanting them with electrodes. 

However: “They abandoned the project as sharks are not easily trained and don’t enjoy blowing things up.”

Then there’s the judge in Oklahoma who ruled that forcing someone to listen to Baby Shark on repeat was inhumane, and, statistically, you are more likely to be killed by a vending machine or a coconut than by a shark (illustrated by a cartoon of two sharks attempting to kill a diver with a vending machine).

Amid all the silly stuff are serious points about threats from overfishing, habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution, plus ideas for small steps young readers can take towards sharks’ conservation.

Yet the stinky stories are, unsurprisingly, numerous, given the seven-plus target readership, who will be amused to discover that the average whale shark produces a cloud of poop of around 2,000 cubic feet — enough to fill a standard-size garage.

And farting is, apparently, a special skill of sand tiger sharks, which gulp in air and hold it in their stomachs to help them stay afloat.

“When they need to change their depth in the water, they release the air through their cloaca [their bum]. They will always try to blame this on their dogfish.”