We Love Books

Author and teacher Sarah Moore Fitzgerald brings us the 8 things NOT to do when it comes to upping your fiction game and writing great stories that connect with your readers.

Lonely Planet's Tom Hall is in the house to share expert wisdom on the perfect piece of travel writing and reveals his favourite places to visit around the world

Master storyteller Niall de Búrca tells us about the ancient art of telling an intriguing tale, his life on the road bringing his stories around the country and even gives us a spontaneous performance!

Today, RTÉ sports broadcaster and journalist Paul O'Flynn tells us about his time at the Tokyo Olympics, the power of sports to improve health and happiness and, of course, the latest book in his accessible sporting series celebrating some of Ireland's greatest champions

The wickedly spooky Kat Ellis joins Niamh for a mini masterclass in how to write horror fiction - not for the fainthearted! Take notes and prepare to scare...

Author Michael Egan brings us the highs, the lows and all the drama of a GAA club with his series Declan Kirby GAA star series and shares his top tips for creativity and success, plus tons of book chat, reviews and more!

In the hot seat today, Moïra Fowley-Doyle is our featured author talking about her magical young adult fiction and her top writing tips for future authors, plus we've got bags of book chat to keep young book worms engaged and entertained

Wafa' Tarnowska is our featured author on this week's show, sharing her tales of life as a refugee in Lebanon and her work using her voice as bridge to connect cultures, plus she's got awe-inspiring stories of Amazing Women of the Middle East

Ever wondered how much of our DNA we share with bananas or how to clone a t-rex in your home? Us too! Andrew Pettie is here with his new book Listified to provide the answers to the questions you never knew you wanted to ask, plus reviews, book chat and more!

Jess Kidd sprinkles some Everyday Magic onto the show as this week's featured author, sharing her love for the spooky and the strange, as well as some top writing tips and tricks, plus we hear from you guys, what types of books do you love and what books would you like to write yourselves?

Dermot O'Leary is back in the house with a new book and a new ninja cat saga - catch up with the adventures of Toto, who is in hot water over a jaw-dropping jewel heist, plus we've got all the usual book chat to keep bookworms hooked

Today Niamh chats to TV presenter, animal enthusiast and adventurer Jess French about her creepy-crawly childhood, the incredible creatures she has met on her travels and her fabulous new book, plus we've got plenty of book chat from you guys for young bookworms everywhere

Author Maz Evans tells our listeners about spies, gods and... disgusting pineapples! Plus we've got tons of book chat for young book worms to enjoy

Niamh chats to author and wildlife filmmaker Tony Lee Moral about his latest book, The Cat that Changed America, based on the true tale of P22, the LA mountain lion who has had some hairy adventures, plus all the usual book chat from you guys!

Niamh chats to author Eve McDonnell about her thrilling time travel adventure story, Elsetime, and about the mystic who told her to become an author - intriguing! Plus our listeners get in touch with all kinds of book chat.

Niamh chats to author Lindsay Galvin about her thrilling tale of real-life dragons inspired by a true story, plus we've got reviews, stories and more!

Blue Peter legend turned author Radzi Chinyanganya joins Niamh for a chat about what inspires him, his stellar career and his new book, plus the libraries are back open - hooray - and we want to know what you love about your local library

Niamh chats to Galway author Catherine Doyle about her top writing tips, her new book and how she conquered her fear of the ocean, plus we hear from listeners about what books they like to read, what books they would like to write and more!

Warning: this episode is NOT for the faint of heart - Niamh chats to horror queen Kat Ellis about her spooky books and what inspired them, plus we've got tons of tips, review, stories and more to tickle any young bookworm's fancy!

It's a brand new season of WLB and a brand new way to enjoy book festivals - find out how the authors and organizers of the Towers and Tales festival are beaming their literary magic into your homes, plus we've got reviews, stories and more!

Niamh chats to Ray Cuddihy aka Múinteoir Ray from RTÉ's Home School Hub about his role as ambassador for Ireland Reads Squeeze in a Read campaign AND about other fun things to squeeze in during lockdown

Happy Christmas from the We Love Books HQ! Join Niamh for a truly jam-packed festive kid's book extravaganza and maybe even a chat with the man of the moment - Santa himself - if those pesky gremlins don't get in the way...

Stuck for ways to keep up with the wonderful world of kids books during the pandemic? Niamh chats to writers Sarah Webb and Eve McDonnell about Wonderfest, an online festival kids can attend November 20th-22nd from the comfort of their own home!

Children from all across the country wrote fantastic stories for our We Love Books writing competition and now it's time to hear from our winners - they tell us what they wrote about and share their top writing tips. You'll be able to hear the winning stories on forthcoming episodes.

Niamh drops in on a creative writing club for kids led by award-winning author Sarah Webb and finds out what makes snow happy and what makes rain sad, CBI Book Doctor Anne has excellent reading recommendations for the adventurous at heart and we've got a story that'll scare the socks off you written by 12-year-old Sean!

Dream team meteorologist Joanna Donnelly and illustrator Fuchsia MacAree chat about creating their award-winning The Great Weather Book, plus we've got all the usual goods including stories, reviews and a trip to CBI Book Doctor Anne's clinic of riveting reading recommendations.

Kelly McCaughrain chats about her multi-award-winning debut novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, CBI Book Doctor Anne has top reading recommendations, we've got stories, reviews and more!

Holly Rivers chats to Niamh all about her book Demelza and the Spectre Detectors and what it was like growing up inside an actual book, almost, as an actress on the original Worst Witch series, plus we've got reviews, stories, reading recommendations and more!

Pádraig Kenny is our featured author, chatting about the secret to writing a book really, really fast and why he wants to make you cry (in a good way!), CBI Book Doctor Anne has some classic recommendations, we've got reviews, stories and more!

How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell chats about her writing process and her new book in the Wizards of Once series, Knock Three Times, CBI Book Doctor Anne has excellent reading recommendations for kids who love illustrated books and we've got reviews, stories and more - essential listening for bookworms everywhere!

The results are in for the We Love Books writing competition! In this mini episode we find out what the judges were looking for in a winning story, what their top tips are for entering a creative writing competition and, of course, who our winners are!

The Maker of Monsters author Lorraine Gregory chats to Niamh about how a good hero needs a good villain, plus we've got reviews, stories and top reading recommendations from CBI Book Doctor Anne.

Helena Duggan is our featured author this week, uncovering the spooky side of Kilkenny in her 'Perfect' trilogy. We've got stories, reviews and top recommendations from Book Doctor Anne.

Shane Hegarty is our featured author in this week's episode. You'll know him from his Darkmouth series and most recently for Boot, which is the 2020 Citywide Reading for Children choice. We check in with Book Doctor Anne for some excellent reading recommendations and we've got the usual bumper helping of stories and reviews.

Niamh chats to author and illustrator Chris Judge about the latest adventures of The Beast and what happens when he finds an egg on his doorstep, plus we've got reviews, stories and a visit from Book Doctor Anne with recommendations for great reads.

On today's mini ep, the students of the Bradley Theatre School share the poems they have written for an online poetry festival run by teacher Sarah - plenty of inspiration to get you scribbling at home!

Green-fingered mother-daughter duo Esther Coombs and Tinneke Harvey tell Niamh about speedy snails, two-headed pumpkins and how a school gardening club led to their new book, Plant, Sow, Make and Grow, plus reviews, stories and more!

Author Vashti Hardy tells us about the fantastical worlds she writes about and the supernatural experiences she had as a child - spooky! Plus writing tips, reviews and more.

Author and illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson chats to Niamh about how to make your very own pumpkin friend, how best to organize rainbow pants and more! Plus writing tips, stories and reviews.

Niamh chats to 6-year-old Max Kennedy who has published his very own book and his 5-year-old sister Zoe, his expert saleswoman! A fantastic example of how you can get creative from your own home.

Our own in-house writer extraordinaire Dave Rudden has only gone and given us an interview! He spills the ancient secrets of that most mysterious of creatures, the author (spoiler alert, they're allowed to wear pjs all day if they like - nice!)

Niamh is joined by a roly-poly flying pony named Kevin and his friends, Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre to chat about what it's like writing a book with your friend - spoiler alert, it's great fun! We've got another fab writing tip from Dave Rudden and loads more!

Niamh chats to writer and illustrator Alex T Smith about books, the colour pink and his childhood ambition to be a rabbit! (As well as loads of other stuff, seriously we really do jam-pack these episodes...)

The magical James Nicol casts a spell in the We Love Books HQ telling us all about the adventures of Arianwyn Gribble!

X Factor host Dermot O'Leary has many talents, one of them is writing kids books! He chats to Niamh about the third book in his Toto the Ninja Cat series, we've got World Book Day Shenanigans, stories, reviews and a whole load more!

It's our official launch party! Writer Juliette Saumande and illustrator Tarsila Krüse lead children through a treasure hunt at Coolock Library with some weird and wonderful results. Kids get reading, writing and reviewing and we've got a top 2 minute writing tip from author Dave Rudden to get you scribbling.

Niamh chats to author Onjali Rauf about how she turned her experiences working in refugee camps into her award-winni ng book The Boy at the Back of the Class. There's a top writing tip from author extraordinaire Dave Rudden, reviews, story time and more!

The RTÉJr Podcast that wants to get you reading, reviewing ... and writing!