We finally managed to sit down with Sarah Webb, the Queen of Irish Kidlit, on today's episode. Join us for a fun stroll through the ups and downs of her Storyshaped life, from her early days of working in bookselling to the achievements she would go on to claim - a multiply-published, award-winning, best-selling author of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults, as well as an event programmer, an Events Manager, and - full circle! - back to bookselling in the wonderful surrounds of Halfway Up the Stairs specialist children's bookshop in Wicklow.
Find Sarah online at her website: www.sarahwebb.info
Books mentioned in today's episode include Sarah's own:
The Weather Girls
The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street
The Amy Green Series
And the stories which have shaped her include:
When We Were Very Young, by AA Milne
Now We Are Six, by AA Milne
Richard Scarry's Busy Busy World
Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr Seuss
The Elephant and the Bad Baby, by Raymond Briggs and Elfrida Vipont
Looking and Doing, by Leo Hallisey and Donal Byrne
Tiger Flower, by Robert Vavra
ROSC Art Exhibition Catalogues
Bunty, Mandy, and Twinkle - annuals, and weekly comics
Disney Play-Along Records, including Peter Pan, the Jungle Book, Cinderella, and Pinocchio
National Geographic and Readers' Digest magazine
Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis
The work of Eilís Dillon
Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
Favourite Greek Myths, by LS Hyde
The work of Sinéad de Valera
The Second-Best Children in the World, by Mary Lavin, ill. Edward Ardizzone
The Flight of the Earls, by Walter Macken
The Bookshop on the Quay, by Patricia Lynch
Are You There, God... by Judy Blume
The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald
New Patches for Old, by Christabel Mattingsley
The Lottie Brooks series, by Kate Kirby
The work of Margaret Atwood, Kate Chopin, Marge Piercy, Patricia Scanlan, Marian Keyes
Babies Need Books, by Dorothy Butler, ill. Shirley Hughes
Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson
Alfie, by Shirley Hughes (series)
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula leGuin
The work of Susan Cooper
The Harry Potter books
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne
Tyger, by SF Said
The work of Frances Hardinge
Catfish Rolling, by Clara Kumagai
Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
Writers and Lovers, by Lily King
Heartburn, by Nora Ephron
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
The Far Side, by Gary Larson
Maus, by Art Spiegelman
Love and Rockets, by the Hernandez Brothers
Smile, Guts, and Ghosts, all by Raina Telgemaier
The Drama Club, and the Cartoonists' Club, by Telgemaier and Scott McCloud
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, graphic novel adaptation by Amy de Jongh
Mexi-Kid, by Pedro Martin
Our podcast bookshop in Ireland is Halfway Up the Stairs: www.halfwayupthestairs.ie. You might also like to check out www.kennys.ie for free shipping within the Republic of Ireland!
In the UK, check out our storefront on: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/Storyshaped. Disclaimer: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.