Leprechaun in Late Winter
Read Leprechaun in Late Winter Online
Authors: Mary Pope Osborne
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A
few years ago I visited County Galway in Ireland. I traveled through seaside towns along the rocky coast and took a boat out to the lonely Aran Islands at the mouth of Galway Bay. I loved the lush green sheep meadows of the countryside, the smell of peat fires wafting through misty rain, the cozy pubs where we had gingerbread and strong tea. Ever since that visit, I’ve loved Irish music and literature—especially the folklore of leprechauns, fairies, and legendary Irish heroes and heroines.
So now I want to share Ireland with you. Get ready for a journey to the enchanted countryside of Galway, to a time a hundred and fifty years ago, when mysterious creatures still hid in the forests and hills. Be careful not to let them see you, or you might be turned into a skunk or a weasel! But don’t be afraid—just have a great time with Jack and Annie
.
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2010 by Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Sal Murdocca
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Leprechaun in late winter / by Mary Pope Osborne ; illustrated by Sal Murdocca — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Magic tree house ; #43)
“A Merlin mission.”
“A stepping stone book.”
Summary: Jack and Annie travel back to nineteenth-century Ireland to inspire a young
Augusta Gregory to share her love of Irish legends and folktales with the world.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89466-4
1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Tree houses—Fiction.
4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 5. Gregory, Lady, 1852–1932—Fiction.
6. Ireland—History—19th century—Fiction.
I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.O81167Le 2010 [Fic]—dc22 2009016591
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.0
For Lillian Grogan Osborne Reynolds
And with special thanks to Dan Ringuette
More Facts from Jack and Annie
“They can grow small or grow large. They can
take what shape they choose.… They go by us in a
cloud of dust; they are as many as the blades of
grass. They are everywhere.”
—from
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland
by Lady Gregory
