Customer Reviews

Too Many Leprechauns: Or How That Pot o' Gold Got to the End of the Rainbow

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The story begins:

Finn O'Finnegan looked like a rogue and walked like a rascal, so it was widely thought that he was at least one of the other. And his shadow, which followed him closely and knew all of his secrets, might have said he was both."

What an enchanting funny story this one is. When Finn returns to his village after a stay in Dublin, he finds not all is well. It seem that the Leprechauns have been keeping the entire village, including his blessed mother, up all night with their constant tapping as they make shoes for the fairies. It seems that the more shoes the leprechauns can make, the more gold they will get, fairy gold, and as everyone knows, leprechauns dearly love their gold!

What to do? The villagers need their sleep, the leprechauns want more gold and Finn is primarily interesting in kicking back and getting fat on his mother's soda bread. A leprechauns may be a crafty little creatures, shrewd little imps of the night and twilight, but they are no match for our rascally and roguish Fin O'Finnegan! He has a plan and the next day he presents himself to the wee workaholics.

What continues is a battle of wits and let's face it, your average leprechaun has no chance against a good Irishman at any time. Needless to say, Finn saves his village and gets his soda bread.

I love the art work in this one. The full page oils by Dan Andreasen are wonderfully executed and I must say that this artist has his Wee People down pat. Children love to just look at the pictures in this one, as you, the adult will. Each painting illustrates the text perfectly.

I must again take umbrage with Publishers weekly and feel children will have no trouble what so ever in understanding the magical logic Finn uses to trick the leprechauns...hey, this is not rocket science stuff here and any kid worth his salt knows more about such things than we adults do anyway. I also note that the School Library Journal is carping that the text does not explain the appearance of the rainbow as there is no mention of moisture. Well to begin with, this is a fantasy Library people...you don't have to have a scientific reason for throwing in a rainbow and I doubt if many kids of the targeted age will lose much sleep over this. But in any case, you are wrong. If you will note that in the morning when Finn pulls his trick that "the mist still lay heavy on the air." Finn has thee leprechauns hurry to the field before the sun came out so he could catch the first rays. Hey folks, read the book before you write the review please! Besides, this work is not part of the curriculum of science 101...who cares?

All in all this is a wonderful March tale which is actually good for any time of the year. I like this one and is equal to any of the other work this author and artist have turned out...which is all quite good.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Dan Andreasen provides whimsical, fun drawings for TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS, OR HOW THAT POT O' GOLD GOT TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW. Leprechauns may be lucky on St. Patrick's Day, but on every other day they are noisy neighbors and they are causing chaos in the town of Dingle. But Finn has plans for curing the trouble, making TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS a pick not just for March but for year-round fun leisure reading.

I went to a local bookstore known for its children's book department looking for a book to read my grandchildren for St. Patrick's Day. First I browsed through them all to see which illustrations were the most appealing. I kept coming back to this one, and then when I read the story I was sold. In the style of a folk tale, this book has the total package--clever story and eye-catching illustrations, that explain how leprechaun gold ended up at the end of a rainbow. No matter where you open the book there is at least one full-page, lushly colored illustration. I love the page where Finn, the main character, returns home after a year in Dublin and sees that "something is clearly amiss." In this illustration a farmer with closed eyes is pouring a saucer of milk for his cow, has placed two fried eggs in front of his hen and his pig is plopped in a galvanized tub full of bubbles. What could the matter be? Finn soon finds out from his mother and that is when he hatches his plan to trick the leprechauns, for a change.
The jacket indicates it is for ages 4-6, but my eight-year-old grandson enjoyed it every bit as much as the 4 and 6 year-olds.

Too Many Leprechauns is a very cute story about Irish tricks and the origins of why gold can always be found at the end of a rainbow. Finn O'Finnegan returns home to Dingle after a year in Dublin to find his home has been overtaken by noisy leprechauns. Finn meets a leprechaun named Dobb, who is making leprechaun shoes to acquire more gold, as that is the only thing that matters to leprechauns. Finn devices a plan.... He finds faults with all of the shoes that the leprechauns make. To show Finn their shoes are of the highest quality, the leprechauns bring out all of the gold they have received as payment for their made shoes. Finn then asks to see all of their shoes together, telling them that that will convince him of their quality. The next day their gold has disappeared! When the leprechauns discover that Finn himself had taken their gold, Finn agrees to return their gold only if they leave Dingle and never bother the town again. However, Finn has another trick up his sleeve... he has moved their gold to the end of a rainbow, which disappears when the rainbow disappears. However, the leprechauns keep their word and secretly are pleased about the gold's location, keeping it there ever since.

Perfect for St. Patrick's Day and for anyone with a bit of Irish in them, this book is wonderful and fun.