Fanad author's book, inspired by Donegal's housing crisis, hits White Ravens list

The debut picture book of Fanad author Isla McGuckin has been included on the prestigious White Ravens list.

April's Garden has been selected as one of the inclusions on the 2024 list.

Chosen by experts at the International Youth Library, the books on the list are deemed to be of interest to an international audience because of their literary and pictorial quality and the topics they address.

This year, books from more than 60 countries are represented with April’s Garden among them. McGuckin has told of how the housing crisis in Donegal and the defective concrete blocks saga are threaded through the book.

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"Children, the world over, have lived experiences that are almost impossible to imagine," says McGuckin. "Books that bolster the innate compassion and empathy in young children feel more important than ever. I'm delighted that April's Garden - with its theme of child displacement - has been selected."

Last year, McGuckin said of April’s Garden: “Our second daughter, April, died shortly after she was born.

“Because I couldn't bear to introduce the idea of a graveyard to her older sister - then just a toddler - I referred to the cemetery as April’s Garden.

“The influences for the book’s narrative, though, are much broader and more global.

“Some years ago, I was deeply moved by the stories of families seeking asylum who were temporarily housed in the remote seaside village where my family lives.

“Accounts of children being made homeless - by housing crises or domestic violence or war - are now shockingly commonplace. Over time, these threads have become interwoven as my book, April's Garden.

“When you're writing for children, it can be tempting to avoid difficult topics, to keep things light. But so many children have lived experiences that are challenge-filled. “So I think the more prompts we have for conversations that develop compassion and empathy the better.”

The International Youth Library is the world’s largest library for international children’s and youth literature. Founded in 1949 by Jella Lepman, it has grown to become an internationally recognised centre for children’s and youth literature.

The central task of the library is to promote global children’s and youth literature of high aesthetic and literary quality and of significance for cultural literacy.

The first White Ravens catalog was issued in 1986.

Born and raised in Yorkshire, McGuckin lives in Fanad.