Shannon and The World's Tallest Leprechaun

by Sean Callahan, Kathleen Kemly (Illustrator)

Shannon is a stepdancer with a broken shoe. How can she ever win the Saint Patrick's Day stepdancing contest?

Enter Liam, the world's tallest leprechaun.

A leprechaun grants wishes, right? But Liam not only doesn't look like a leprechaun, he grants wishes in his own unusual way.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2008

About the author

My most recent book is "A Wild Father's Day." I've also written "Shannon and the World's Tallest Leprechaun," "A is for Ara," and "The Bear Hug." For my day job, I'm a reporter at Crain Communications. I also edit the masters-athlete.com and masters-cycling.com Web sites."

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different story for St. Pat’s. This is set during an Irish dancing contest. Someone counting backwards in gaelic will summon a leprechaun to grant you a wish. Shannon is in a dance contest so she wishes for help. This wish granter is all about the work. You wish for something, he ends up making Shannon work harder, but the wish does happen.

It’s actually a nice little story. The niece thought this was pretty good. She liked what the gold at the end of the rainbow meant. She gave this 4 stars. The nephew thought the tall leprechaun was funny and he gave this 3 stars.

It’s a nice change for the St. Pat’s holiday book.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the stronger picture books for St. Patrick's Day, I enjoyed this story about Shannon, with her old scuffed shoes and home-made dress, who worries she will no be a strong enough competitor in the Irish step-dance contest against the other girls with pretty costumes and shiny new shoes. When the heel of her shoe breaks, her will almost does, too, but she doesn't lose hope and counts backwards in Gaelic for a leprechaun to come. When she opens her eyes, a five-foot-eleven man with a beard stands before her: Liam, the World's Tallest Leprechaun. But when she makes her wishes, he doesn't simply grant them with a poof of magic dust (as he says, he's no fairy-godmother; he grants wishes in the way that counts!) and Shannon finds herself working for her wishes to come true.

I like this take on wish-fulfillment and the illustrations are really cute. And it helps that the story is about dancing (!) and the illustrations feature a sweet yellow cat on almost every page ;-)

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two-year old really enjoys this book but I suspect a lot of it has to do with my husband reading the leprechaun with what he refers to as his "Lucky Charms" accent. It's actually quite a positive story about appreciating what you already have.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon is a step dancer with a broken shoe, lacking confidence but realizing that her own wishes are closer to reality, but with the help of Liam the tallest Leprechaun, dreams do come true.

Enjoy the illustrations and Irish culture for this fun St. Patrick's Day read.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! So cute and it was about an Irish dancing competition. My daughter (7) has rated it five stars.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Callahan, Sean, Shannon and the World’s Tallest Leprechaun, illus. Kathleen Kemly
Unpaged, Albert Whitman, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-8075-7326-6 $15.95
K-Gr. 3

Have you ever seen a real leprechaun? If not, then how do you know how tall they are supposed to be? Shannon loves to step dance, but feels that because of her homemade dresses and scuffed shoes that she does not look like an Irish dancer so when she breaks a heel on her shoes while practicing for the St. Patrick’s Day competition, she feels hopeless and decides to try something that her dad had once told her when she was sad. She closes her eyes and counts backward in Gaelic and when she opens them, there is a six foot tall, red-haired man dressed in what she had imagined a leprechaun might wear. The exasperated leprechaun, Liam is never pleased to be questioned as to his credibility, but he is obliged to grant her three wishes.

Using her three wishes over three days, Liam helps Shannon prepare herself for the contest. The pastels that Kathleen Kemly uses throughout the story provides muted, understated backgrounds so that she may use darker tones to make Liam and Shannon more prominent. The many two page illustrations provide the illusion many times of needing a large space to dance. Will Liam’s help actually help her to do better at the competition?

There is a combination of The Elves and the Shoemaker and the tale of the Three Wishes compiled in this more contemporary fairy tale. This tale is definitely for St. Patrick’s Day but some children may require viewing a video clip of step dancing to see it in action and also to appreciate the need for hard soled shoes.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon and The World's Tallest Leprechaun by Sean Callahan, illustrated by Kathleen Kemly, is a contemprary tale of a stepdancing contest and a girl who needs help from a leprechaun.

Callahan's pastels match this story well. Like fellow reviewer Kathryn, I enjoyed the many views of the yellow cat. My favorite images are Shannon counting backwards, fixing her shoe, grumpy at Liam, and with rollers in her hair.

I really enjoyed this tale stressing self confidence, practice, fulfilling wishes and skill trumping appearances. Having a tall feisty leprechaun was a great twist. Favorite lines: "I'm no fairy Godmother," Liam said. "I grant wishes in a proper manner." I also loved the counting backward in Gaelic, and Liam mentioning google! This would be a good St. Patrick's Day read-aloud.

Most enjoyable to me is the mention of the Irish American Heritage Center, a fine institution keeping Irish culture alive on Knox Avenue, not too far from where I live on the NW side of Chicago. Makes me wish I'd been there this past St. Paddy's Day, don't cha know. This is recommended for school and public library collections

For ages 5 to 8, leprechauns, St. Patrick's Day, stepdancing, contests, practice, confidence, and fans of Sean Callahan and Kathleen Kemly.

[SamZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute! I loved that the leprechaun made Shannon work for her goals. I'll admit that I suspected it was the dad dressing up as Liam, so I was pleasantly surprised that the author went the folklore route.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this story quite a bit. A 6-foot-tall leprechaun helps Shannon get ready for her Irish step-dancing competition. The leprechaun's magic includes a little bit of self-acceptance, a little bit of reframing the world, a lot of hard work, and maybe a little actual magic too!

[Owen & Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet story that promotes humility, hard work, and honesty.

[Taylor C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was SO cute! :D
I loved it. Ratings aside (even though it should have a higher one lol) this book was all about using what you got and making the best of it.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of how the best wishes are best granted. Loved it.

My daughter loved it and encouraged me to read it first of all our St. Patrick’s Day books. I'm glad I listened.

[Charlotte S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shannon LOVES to stepdance but she really doesn't look like a traditional step dancer. All of the other girls have large and fancy wigs and very expensive dresses. But Shannon curls her own hair and her mom made her dress. Most importantly, all of the other girls have gorgeous shoes, but all Shannon has are old and scuffed ones. One time when she was practicing, her shoe broke! She's about to throw them in the garbage when she remembers what her dad had told her once. 'If you close your eyes and count backward in Gaelic, a leprechaun might appear to grant a wish!' She does this, and a leprechaun appears! Well...sort of...he's a little tall to be a leprechaun... *5'11" as he says* She asks him for new shoes, a dress, and a wig, but he teaches her that those things don't matter as much as putting work into something that you love. He has Shannon practice and practice her dance, but will all the hard work pay off? I LOVE this book so much - I love dancing! It incorporates Irish folklore and traditional dance in a wonderful way. It's very entertaining and I highly recommend this book! The illustrations are wonderful, too! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recommendations!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute and a great story for St. Patty’s Day. This book offers another more realistic perspective of what leprechauns are, look like, and do, if leprechauns were real of course! This book would be great for a storytime for ages 5 and up (it’s a little long with a good amount of big blocks of text). I could also see this book acting like an early reader for 2nd graders as well.

[Robin Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great lesson in working towards your wishes.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Shannon meets the "world's tallest leprechaun", she thinks he's lying to her. He's too tall to be a leprechaun. And although the wishes he "grants" to her come true, they aren't really granted magically. She works for those wishes.

Not a bad read-aloud for St. Patrick's Day week.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about Irish step dancing - it's not only about those fancy dresses and wigs. Picture book format; but really for early elementary aged children.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon is an Irish step dancer who discovers self confidence with the help of a wise leprechaun. Good lesson--talent outshines appearance. Good addition if needing more St. Patrick's Day titles.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and a heartfelt message about hard work make this a great book to share with your kids around Saint Patrick's Day.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Apparently leprechauns are not fairy god mothers. A tale about the importance of learning and practicing.