Unluckiest Leprechaun

Alastair Heim is the author of more than twenty children’s picture books including the #1 New York Times bestselling official sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! titled How the Grinch Lost Christmas!, as well as Hello, Door, which was named one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2018; The Great Puppy Invasion, which won the 2019 Oklahoma Redbud Read-Aloud Award; and Quiet Down, Loud Town!, which was named a 2021 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. He has also written four books for Dr. Seuss Beginner Books titled If I Had Your Vote, If I Ran Your School, If I Were Saint Nick, and If I Drove an Ice Cream Truck—all featuring the Cat in the Hat. He is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and lives in Kansas City with his wife and three children.Pablo Pino was born in August 1981 in Buenos Aries, Argentina. He grew up watching cartoons, playing football, and drawing a lot. These days, he doesn’t watch as much TV and only plays football once a week, but still has the joy of painting every day because for the last ten years, he’s been working as a professional illustrator for different print media. What he enjoys the most is illustrating books for children and teenagers. In addition to illustrating almost fifty books, Pablo also does character designs and board games and collaborates on designs for schoolbooks and magazines with various worldwide publishing companies. He is self-taught and his illustrations are mostly computer drawn, but he always adds textures that he makes with pencils, crayons, acrylics, and pretty much any material that lets him gets messy like when he was child.

Clover is the unluckiest leprechaun in his village, and he knows it. He oversleeps for the St. Patrick’s Day sing-along, bakes a cake that collapses into a drippy mess, and is the only leprechaun unable to find a four-leaf clover. Feeling discouraged and left out, Clover leaves home to search for his rainbow and the treasure he hopes will finally bring him luck. Unfortunately, his bad luck follows him into the human world, where each attempt ends in another mess or mishap, punctuated by the recurring refrain, “Of all the luck!” Heim’s rhyming text makes this a lively and engaging read-aloud, while gently addressing themes of disappointment, perseverance, and self-acceptance. The story resolves in a delightful and affirming way, as Clover’s string of disasters unexpectedly brings joy to the community—each blunder creating a rainbow that helps make the town’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration its best ever. Pino’s full-page digital illustrations are bright and expressive, featuring charming, diverse leprechauns and humans in a range of skin tones that add warmth and inclusivity to the familiar folklore. VERDICT Lively rhyme, bright illustrations, and a joyful conclusion make this title a welcome addition for St. Patrick’s Day storytimes and seasonal displays.