The book was written by Susan Wojciechowski and illustrated by P.J. Lynch. It was first published in 1996.
For a number of years now I have read it to my kids every Christmas. And every time I have had to pause as inevitably something would cause my eyes to water for some unknown reason.
The story is beautifully written and very moving.
This year my daughter Ruth (9) read it aloud instead and again there must have been dust particles in the air because I found myself having to wipe my eyes again.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.
In preparing this posting, I discovered that:
- Susan Wojciechowski has a website
- P. J. Lynch is actually Patrick James Lynch and he is Irish, born in Belfast and, according to his website, currently living in Dublin.
- The book was made into a movie in 2007. It stars Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson. I see that our own Saoirse Ronan also has a role in the movie. It currently has a rating of 6.6 on IMDB. The movie is available here. Might be worth taking a look.
So many more Irish connections than I was expecting.