Last month I wrote about collecting beads and diamonds when I was a little girl. (Pay attention at the back)
When I was eight though, I moved from London to Cork, and as anyone who’s ever been to Cork will tell you, they do things differently there. In my new school no-one was interested in my collections – and one girl called them ‘a box full of broken necklaces’ – true but harsh!
In Cork, all the girls collected ‘scraps’ – small coloured pictures, which they stored between the leaves of a book, and spent all of playtime swapping. This was tough on me, as the other girls had spent years building up their collections, and I didn’t have a single scrap to my name. I was feeling very lonely and isolated when a lovely older girl called Ellen O’Driscoll, gave me her huge collection of scraps – to keep! Armed with a whole book of beautiful scraps, I immediately belonged, and spent many happy hours swapping my treasures.
Two years later, I left that school, and I never saw Ellen O’Driscoll again – and my precious scraps got lost in the move. Fortunately, I still have friends, and when I told the lovely Sarah Webb my scrap story, she tracked these down and sent them to me.
Now who’d like to swap?

Originally published on www.girlsheartbooks.com

Just back from an amazing trip to Cork City Libraries. I stayed with my wonderful parents, who spoiled me rotten, and fed me wonderful food. I caught up with a few old friends from school and college and I celebrated the graduation of my godson, David, from UCC.

I opened an amazing library in the Gaelscoil in Douglas – it made me want to go back in time, and be a pupil there.

The events in Cork City were lovely. I visited the libraries in Blackpool, Holly Hill, Tory Top, Douglas, Mayfield, Grand Parade and Bishopstown. Everywhere I went, I was blown away by the enthusiasm of the children, and how well their teachers had prepared them for my visit.

On every visit I was most flattered by posters and art celebrating my books. Special mention has to go to Tom Mc Carthy in Hollyhill, who made this lovely, and beautifully titled ‘Judi Garland.’

This was a lovely finale to my Childrens Book Festival 2012.