Shannon and the World's Tallest Leprechaun

By Sean Callahan and Kathleen Kemly

Shannon is a stepdancer with a broken shoe. How can she ever win the Saint Patrick’s Day stepdancing contest? Enter Liam, the world’s tallest leprechaun. A leprechaun grants wishes, right? But Liam not only doesn’t look like a leprechaun, he grants wishes in his own unusual way.Sean Callahan’s tale taps to a lively finish; Kathleen Kemly’s perfect pastels add to the happiness. The author also wrote The Bear Hug.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman Company
• Release date: Feb 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480485495

Sean Callahan

Sean Callahan is a freelance journalist and children's book author. He lives in Illinois with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews for Shannon and the World's Tallest Leprechaun

[jmille113 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The big ideas of this book are about working hard to make wishes come true, and not judging people based on what they look like. I like this book for two reasons. First, I like how the plot, even though it is fantasy, seems like it could really happen. For instance, Liam, the leprechaun, does not magically grant Shannon’s wishes. Rather, he shows her that she can attain what she wants through hard work. When she wishes for gold, he gets Shannon to practice her step dancing at a new level by having her teach him the moves. As a result, Shannon’s wish is granted as she wins the gold medal at her Irish step dance competition. I also like how the theme of this book reflects on humans’ tendency to stereotype. Shannon has a hard time believing that Liam is a leprechaun because he is so tall. She also feels that she cannot beat her competitors in the dance contest because their costumes are so much nicer than hers. This is a twist on typical stereotyping that is known as stereotype threat.

[lnpowers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The illustrations are what first intersted me in this book and they did not let me down. The story and theme were a good lesson with references to Irish-American traditions and a little Gaelic. This would be a good story to read around St. Patrick's Day since it is referencing that holiday and could open up a discussion about traditional Irish stepdancing, when it started and how it has evolved.