Novel idea for kids books

We’ve all been lost in a book, but have you ever been found in a book? A trio of Bailieborough friends have created a new children’s book which promises to put the young reader at the heart of the adventure.
Rascal Reads is a series of books which can be personalised to include a child’s photo and name throughout the story.
The idea was sparked when Garreth Tackney grew frustrated searching online for a personalised story for his two year old son - he could only find ones which could be tailored to include the child’s name, not their photo. When he told his lifelong pals Aideen Lynch, and Kevin Kelleher they saw it as an opportunity and Rascal Reads was born.
“We said, ‘Let’s do it’ there and then,” recalls Kevin. “We set up a company in January of this year having done a bit of research and had a bit of funding support prior to that from the local Enterprise Board in Cavan.”
To come up with the characters and stories the friends tapped into their own inner child.
“The three of us had a lot of fun sitting around creating a world of characters based on the main character of Rascal,” said Kevin. “In fact the name Rascal came first, and then we thought let’s make the character Rascal. We wanted this character Rascal to be imaginative and inventive, so he could feed into the rest of the story, and into the world that the child could be a part of.”
The bespectacled, freckle-faced, curly-haired Rascal - as beautifully depicted by talented Dublin based illustrator, Carol Freeman - sounds like a great lead character.
“He’s kind of quirky, always coming up with whacky ideas, imaginative, and good willed. He generally comes up with ideas for family members, so stories would begin with a family member being upset for some reason, and Rascal wants to cheer that family member up - a granny, the mother - in The Snow Story he tries to cheer up the whole family. So he comes up with ideas which are whacky and then settles on one which he thinks will work and asks for the child’s help, and that’s where the child comes into the story, because he can’t do these crazy adventures on his own.”
The child’s photo appears four times in the story, and their name appears through-out. You simply upload the child’s photo onto the Rascal Reads website and then crop it to fit. A preview lets you confirm you’re happy with the image.
When Rascal gets the idea of asking for help the child’s face appears for the first time in the story in a light-bulb of inspiration. It’s an appropriate image given the child’s reaction:
“You see the child’s face light up when they appear in the book,” says Kevin. “It’s special, it’s a unique type of book - it’s more than a book, it’s a way for a child to feel part of a whole other world. In the story something usually goes wrong and the child saves the day by finding the solution, so it’s good for the child’s confidence as well as their imagination.”
While the book is aimed at children aged from three to seven, Kevin notes that parents can read the book with their two-year olds and they will be able to recognise their face.
“That’s the whole crux of the magic of this really. And when they are six and seven they still enjoy reading the book by themselves and being part of the story, so it has a wide enough age span.”
They launched the books with workshops in Cavan Town’s Johnston Central Library on Hallowe’en night, and they expect orders to roll in, from right across the English speaking world, as Christmas approaches.
“We are getting great feedback but we have only started pushing it. At the workshop, most parents there bought at least one book - they saw them in the flesh and thought they were beautiful. On our website next week we will have a video up and I think that will be a great help to communicate what we have on offer.”
Harvest Moon Print & Design in Killeshandra take care of the Rascal Reads printing, and the book arrives through Irish letterboxes in four working days.
It has already arrived through The Late Late’s letterbox at RTÉ’s studios.
“We sent a book into Ryan Tubridy, with a picture of him in a Christmas jumper for the Toy Show, so hopefully...
I’m crossing my fingers,” says Kevin laughing.
Just like Rascal the trio are excited to embark on this adventure of starting their first business.
“It hasn’t felt like work yet I must say. We’ve learned a hell of a lot and it’s been an adventure in its own right. I’d recommend anybody to try it - it’s good fun.”