A Limerick Fairytale

GRÁINNE O’BRIEN Illustrated by lena stawowy

GRÁINNE O’BRIEN

Illustrated by Lena Stawowy

GRÁINNE O’BRIEN has been the children’s buyer for O’Mahony’s Booksellers for almost a decade. She is the founder of Rontu Literary Service, which supports aspiring children’s writers, and one of the founders of Silver Apples, an online literary magazine. Gráinne is a County Clare native and lives in Limerick with her husband and two cats.

LENA STAWOWY is an illustrator, character designer and constant doodler who lives in beautiful Kilkenny. This is her first book.

First published 2023 by The O’Brien Press Ltd,

12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland

Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777

E-mail: books@obrien.ie

Website: obrien.ie

The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland.

Copyright for text © Gráinne O’Brien

Copyright for illustration © Lena Stawowy

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

Copyright for layout, editing and design

ISBN: 978-178849-374-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any way or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

28 27 26 25 24 23

Printed and bound in Poland by Bialostockie Zaklady Graficzne S.A.

The paper in this book is produced using pulp from managed forests.

For T.J., Roísín, Máire, Darragh and Baby. The loves of my life.

Once upon a time, there was a prince called Hugo who was looking for some excitement. Something thrilling. The kind of life found in fairy tales.

‘You need to find your happily ever after in the real world,’ the king and queen told him.

‘No. I need a princess. To find her I need magic and excitement! Everyone knows that’s the only way to live happily ever after,’ said the prince.

3

‘We could help him find his princess and his happily ever after,’ sighed the king. ‘Check the books. What can we do?’

4

‘We could hold a ball. But where?’ the queen asked.

‘How about Limerick? It has magic and excitement!’ said the king.

‘Perfect!’ the queen cried. ‘But let’s have three balls, just in case. Something tells me he’s going to need them.’

5

Across Limerick, preparations began for the royal guests.

6

The king and queen drove their car. They had no idea where the carriage came from.

7

At the first ball Prince Hugo moved through the crowds of snappily-dressed people wondering who would turn out to be the love of his life. Then he spotted the most beautiful person he had ever seen. ‘Who is that?’ he cried.

‘That’s Limerella.’