Leprechauns Never Lie Book

Gram is ailing and Ninny Nanny, too lazy to care for their simple needs, says she will catch a leprechaun to discover his hidden gold.

Marilyn Courtot - Children's Literature

Ninny Nanny and Gram lived together in a cottage that was falling down around them. The young girl was a lazybones and would not fix the roof, gather wood for the fire, fill the water barrel or harvest the potatoes. Gram was a mite frustrated, but Ninny Nanny has decided that she is going to catch a leprechaun and the pot of gold will solve all of their problems. Amazingly, the girl did catch one or actually she tripped and fell on a leprechaun and would not let him go. After he is safely tied in a potato sack, she asks the leprechaun where to find his gold. He tells her it is under the pile of straw and to get it out of the way, Ninny Nanny piles it all on the roof. Turns out it wasn't there and then the wee little man remembers that he moved it under a pile of wood, so Ninny Nanny ends up moving all of the sticks near the house. The gold is nowhere to be found and the leprechaun tells her that it is in the river. After filling the water barrel, he suddenly remembers that the gold is in the potato patch. Ninny Nanny digs up all but one of the plants and never discovers any gold, but does end up freeing the leprechaun because she needs the sack for the potatoes. Later that night he comes back and digs up the pot of gold from under the remaining potato plant—"Aye, leprechauns never lie." Kids and adults will enjoy the lessons in this tale and the illustrations are perfect, showing a mischievous leprechaun enjoying every minute of the work that Ninny Nanny is forced to undertake in her search for the gold. 2004 (orig. 1980), Star Bright Books, Ages 5 up.