Nicola Lavelle (Nicola Ní Mhaolábhail ) from Belmullet, is a primary school teacher and author of a new book - Glór ar Inis Gluaire.
The book adventure story tells of two young boys, Séamaisín and Cormac, who attend the Mayo Gaeltacht summer school for the first time.
The book is aimed at seven-to-ten-year-olds, but anyone with a love of the Irish language, myths, legends, flora and fauna will enjoy it. If that does not entice you, knowing that all proceeds will be donated to Children’s Health Ireland (Crumlin ) may help.
From an early age, Nicola Lavelle enjoyed reading and writing. Her mother, Breege, is a retired librarian who inspired a love of books and reading and her father, John, hails from the Gaeltacht’s Surgeview, Blacksod. Having used Irish from the cradle, her Dad, like many others, emigrated to London in 1960’s in search of work.
During summers away from university, Nicola held story-telling workshops in her local library, developing her craft of keeping young audiences enthralled in every word.
She explained: "As a teacher, I engage in shared reading with the class and model writing with the children. Our favourites are Roald Dahl and, more recently David Walliams; both of whom have a wonderful way of weaving a witty tale! Modelling writing exercises and stories, helps to ignite the children’s imagination, and motivates them to create their own stories.”
These experiences have provided Nicola with an insight into various genres of writing and what is popular in children’s storytelling.
Glór ar Inis Gluaire is available to purchase at: http://nicolalavelle.bigcartel.com/
