Seems like only yesterday that shops were inundated with books for young people written by Irish authors and published by Irish publishers. Nowadays the pickings have become more than slim - invisible, perhaps? Why, one wonders? Has the bottom fallen out of the market? Have Irish writers of children's books been assumed into heaven? A downgrading of nationality to fit revisionist theories of world order?
To fill the gap we have, for starters, Margaret Mahy from New Zealand - two from her: The Horribly Haunted School, with illustrations by Robert Staermose (Hamish Hamilton, £10.99 in UK), in which Monty Merryandrew and his ghost-girlfriend Lulu defeat the loathsome teacher called Sogbucket and help Monty's mother to win the jigsaw-puzzle cup, and The Five Sisters, illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (Puffin, £3.99 in UK), in which Gran cuts out the figures of five girls from magic paper, and Sally, her granddaughter, sees them come alive before her eyes. Mahy is an expert at the "dreaming eyes of wonder" type of writing for young people, and these two examples of her style and cheerfulness should keep the pre-teens chuckling.
In much the same vein is Dick King-Smith, with his How Green Was My Mouse, illustrated by Robert Bartelt (Viking, £10.99 in UK), wherein shy Charlie Muffin breeds mice of every conceivable colour except green. Then along comes eccentric Merry Day who desires just that - yes, a green mouse. Risible material, one might think, from which to create a jolly tale, but the book turns out to be a delight.
It's back to the real world for the next two offerings: Josephine Feeney's The Dadhunters (Collins, £3.99 in UK), and Robert Leeson's Tom's Private War, illustrated by Kenny McKendry (Puffin, £3.99 in UK). In the first of these, 10year-old Gary decides to find a new husband for his mother when his own Dad walks out. Feeney keeps a fine balance between the light and the serious in a story that touches on how the break-up of a marriage can affect an offspring of such. Robert Leeson's story, set in England in 1939, deals with the outbreak of war and how it affects Tom and his friends; rather conventional, but it does give an account of a time that is "another country" to most young people.
Moya Simons is Australian and her Hetty's Hotline (Puffin, £3.99 in UK), exhibits a wonderfully effective off-the-wall humour. Hetty is an oddball, and in her role as teen guru for the local newspaper is allowed to indulge her wacky sense of humour to the fullest. Finally, a delightful tale of toys coming alive at night in Rose Impey's Sir Billy Bear and Other Friends, illustrated by Ian Beck (Collins, £4.50 in UK). This one is ideal for reading aloud - a true book at bedtime, to put the little ones to sleep and give them pleasant dreams. Surely something devoutly to be wished for by all parents? Ah, peace and quiet.
Vincent Banville is the author of the Hennessy series for teenagers