This book is aimed at children, and is written in a conversational style, but it serves as a thorough introduction for adults too. All of us are familiar with red squirrels, hedgehogs, rabbits, red deer and badgers. We may even have come across them from time to time. But how many of us have ever seen a pygmy shrew, a pine marten or an Irish stoat – all of which inhabit the Irish countryside? How many of us have had the visceral experience of coming across a common pipistrelle or a lesser horseshoe bat? Considerable attention is devoted to our marine life, including the grey seal or harbour seal, the harbour porpoise and the killer whale. There is also a chapter on the blue whale, the largest animal, which can be as long as a football pitch. There have been several sightings of this wondrous animal in Irish waters. My First Book of Irish Animals is an ideal Christmas present for young children – but a reminder, too, that when it comes to the natural world we are all children at heart.
