Louth book club for young adults with Down Syndrome attends Children’s Books Ireland Awards

Members of the “Stay Up All Night” book club, a monthly reading group for young adults run by the Down Syndrome Ireland Louth branch and based in Navan Library, attended the 35th KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards, where they met celebrated author Kelly McCaughrain.

Kelly McCaughrain received the Honour Award for Fiction for her second novel Little Bang, and was also honoured with the Junior Juries’ Award — the children’s choice prize, voted for by thousands of young readers across Ireland. Little Bang, set in Northern Ireland, follows a teenage couple from different backgrounds navigating an unplanned pregnancy.

The Belfast-based author is no stranger to acclaim; her debut novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds earned three awards at the 2019 ceremony, including the same Junior Juries’ Award.

Announced by host Rick O’Shea at a ceremony held in Merrion Square, in partnership with International Literature Festival Dublin, a total of six awards were presented to Irish authors and illustrators, who will also receive a total prize-fund of €16,000. Winners of this year’s awards are:

• The Honour Award for Illustration – ‘Beanie the Bansheenie’, written by former Laureate na nÓg, Eoin Colfer and illustrated by Steve McCarthy
• The Honour Award for Fiction – ‘Little Bang’, the second book from Northern Ireland YA author, Kelly McCaughrain
• The Junior Juries’ Award - ‘Little Bang’ by Kelly McCaughrain also received the children’s choice award as voted for by thousands of young readers island-wide.    The author previously won this award in 2019 for her début ‘Flying Tips for Flightless Birds’
• The Judges' Special Award – ‘The Dictionary Story’ by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. Celebrating 20 years since Northern Ireland artist Jeffers’ first ever Children's Books Ireland Award for his début ‘How to Catch A Star’
• The KPMG Book of the Year Award – ‘Fia and the Last Snow Deer’ written by Eilish Fisher and illustrated by Dermot Flynn. This début middle grade novel was also the winner of the An Post Book Award in the Senior Children's category in 2024 and was shortlisted for the overall An Post Irish Book of the Year.
• The Eilís Dillon Award – was awarded to Eilish Fisher recognising an outstanding first children’s book for ‘Fia and the Last Snow Deer’.