Katie and the Leprechaun by Kathryn England

Ill. by Emma Stuart.New Frontier Publishing, 2012. ISBN 9781921928239.
Recommended for the 7+ reader. Part of the Little Rockets Series, designed especially for the emerging independent reader. The text is interspersed by colourful illustrations and each chapter is marked by a colourful number accompanied by a charmingly cheeky leprechaun encouraging readers to read the on.
The day for Katie O'Reilly begins like any other, missing the bus and forced to walk to school. It is when she falls over a tree root as she cuts through the park and meets Patrick Fitzpatrick, leprechaun, that the day changes for Katie.
Paddy is bored. As a Leith broghan, or leprechaun he makes one shoe at a time but has become tired of making the same old shoes and is looking for a new design. After some persuading Katie agrees to take him to a shoe shop to find something to inspire him and of course finds he is invisible to everyone else.
With Paddy assuring Katie he played an important role in the Elves and the Shoemaker story, Katie helps him find a brand new design and sends him happily on his way.
A charming tale which takes a modern tilt at the old magic of elves and leprechauns and an Irish heritage which will appeal to the younger reader already familiar with fairy magic.
Sue Keane