That's What Leprechauns Do

Even though St Patrick's Day has passed, I thought this would be a fun read with my preschooler, and it was! Three mischievous leprechauns see a storm coming, and anticipating a rainbow, proceed to the spot where they've buried the pot of gold [their job is to place said pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to be found by someone deemed worthy]. Of course, being leprechauns, Art, Boo and Col cannot resist getting sidetracked along the way - playing pranks on unsuspecting villagers [placing a tennis ball under an obliging hen to be discovered by it's owner etc]. Their shenanigans are comical and I loved the use of words and illustrations to convey the leprechauns' antics. This is a fun book that may not only be appreciated on St Patrick's Day, but any day throughout the year, especially for little lovers of folk tales!

I gave this book to my 4 and a half year old son for St. Patrick's Day. It is very cute and he loves when we read it to him. The illustrations are very good and the story is one he loves to hear over and over. A nice little Irish book for this age group.

This charming picture book for young readers is sure to delight any child with its comical story line and whimsical watercolor drawings. Everyone knows that leprechauns hoard gold and their main function, besides being shoemakers to the fairies, is to hide their pots of gold from the grasping hands of humans who would take it from them if they could. The trick is to put it at the ends of rainbows where it is safe since no human has ever found the end of a rainbow. It's not that the dear fellows don't want people to find the gold, but they are very selective about the kind of person who finds it. It must be someone with a "bit of luck and a bit of imagination." While protecting pots of gold is their job, the leprechauns can't stay focused on it when there is so much mischief to be done on the way, mischief they can't resist because, it's just what leprechauns do, don't you know? They are what they are and it can't be helped. Ari, Boo and Col, the three engaging leprechauns in the story, do eventually get to their job-site at rainbow's end, but the distractions that threaten to make them late are really the main delight of the book. From polishing the cow's hooves red to tying the legs of long underwear, drying on the hedge, into a knot, to putting a tennis ball under a farmer's hen just to make him wonder, children will be kept laughing while being thoroughly engaged in the hilarious illustrations. This is a must have for any young child's library.

I bought this book to read to my grandchildren and their classmates. It was a huge success!

Three leprechauns have an important job: they must dig up the pot of gold before the rainbow comes to expose their hiding place - but on the way they can't resist some mischief involving farm animals, putting the pot of gold in danger. A fun story of animal encounters and lessons learned evolves.