Bonkers In Ballyyahoo

BONKERS IN BALLYYAHOO - THE FIRST STORY FROM THE BALLYYAHOO SHORT KIDS STORIES SERIES

Bonkers in Ballyyahoo was first broadcast on Ireland's National Radio Station - RTE 1 as part of their Fiction Fifteen program of weekly short stories for children.

The Ballyyahoo series of stories are designed to make reading fun. The stories are short enough to encourage reluctant readers to develop an appetite for reading more.
To assist parents and teachers the stories are structured to make them easy to read aloud.

VISIT BALLYYAHOO
The accompanying Ballyyahoo website is packed with supplementary story materials and photographs to encourage further reading as well as inspiring kids to enjoy nature and the outdoors.
WHERE IS BALLYYAHOO?
Ballyyahoo is a town that's so secret that the only people who know where it is are the people who live there and they are not telling. You see, Ballyyahoo is Ireland's best-kept secret because it's special, magic and lots of fun. It's so special and so secret that nobody will ever tell you exactly where it is.
THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY?
If you met someone from Ballyyahoo and asked them for directions, they might say it's on the Wild Atlantic Way, maybe somewhere on the road to Clare, or they might say it's on the coast of Mayo, they might even say it's in Sligo town, or hidden between the mountains of Donegal, but what they won't say is that it's in Galway Bay, and that's because it's not there either!
BALLYUSELESS
Ballyyahoo is so secret that even people who live in Ireland don't know exactly where it is, so don't try to find it - you'll only get lost and end up in Ballyuseless and you really don't want to end up in Ballyuseless!
THE DEVIL MAKES WORK FOR IDLE HANDS
Gerry Mac and his cousin, Kevin, are so bored they get bored being bored. There's a lot to do in Ballyyahoo but they're just too bored to do it. All Gerry wants to do is swing around on his garden gate but Kevin has other things on his mind. They say the devil makes work for idle hands and the only time Kevin's hands aren't idle is when he's playing tricks and pranks on the poor unfortunate townspeople of Ballyyahoo.
TRICKS AND PRANKS
Once, Kevin let an army of spiders loose in the local pub and another time he let cockroaches loose in Kelly's shop. But, Kevin's latest trick was a prank too far and the people of Ballyyahoo went even madder than they already are. Soon a strange change comes over Kevin and Gerry wonders if his fun-loving cousin is gone for good.
SECRET PLAN
Has Kevin changed for good? Or is the old Kevin still lurking around with a secret plan, waiting to drive everyone Bonkers in Ballyyahoo?



AUTHOR'S NOTE
I grew up in the centre of the city of Liverpool surrounded by buildings, buildings and more buildings. I wasn't allowed to go to the park on my own because of the potential dangers lurking there, so the street became my playground.
FROM LIVERPOOL TO WICKLOW
I was luckier than most kids then, as being an emigrant's daughter I had family in Ireland. I did have great times playing hopscotch and ball games on the street but nothing compared to the fun I had during my summers in Ireland in my granny's place in the countryside of county Wicklow.
ENCOURAGING KIDS TO READ AND LOVE NATURE
The freedom I enjoyed tearing around the fields, woods and beaches of Wicklow gave me a great love of nature and the outdoors and I wrote these short story books to encourage children, not just to read, that's important, but also to get outside and explore nature.