This Boy's Heart by John Creedon

John Creedon is a renowned storyteller. Following on from the sensational success of An Irish Folklore Treasury, here he seeks to capture the folklore of his own childhood. This Boy’s Heart is set in a city-centre household bursting with humanity, with a cast of a dozen children and another dozen adults, including beloved aunts, an American writer, an African doctor and a Scottish bookie.

The streets outside are teeming with brewery horses, Christian Brothers, beat clubs, dance halls, a Turkish Delight shop -- and a pub where a child could sit up on a high stool and smoke his cigarette in peace.

Summers are spent farmed out to friends and family in the countryside, with hilarious tales of donkey derbies and cow chases. Set in wildly contrasting worlds — from urban exotica to spacious meadows, from the classroom of fifty boys to the open road — these stories of friendship, fun, family and folklore take you on a heart-warming journey into an Irish childhood.  ‘A thing of beauty. I adored it. Full of heart and warmth and humour, this is a book to lift your spirits.’ Donal Ryan