“Remember that Santa will find you. He has the magic, the means and he knows where you are. So don’t worry”

On a night when Ryan Tubridy made a point of including homeless children on the Late Late Toy Show, the presenter highlighted a very special book. The TV presenter showcased How Will Santa Find Us?, a Christmas story from first time authors Shane O’Brien and Stephen Rogers, in the books section of the Frozen-themed Late Late Toy Show.  The book was created as a response from Ireland’s creative community to our growing homeless crisis, in particular the startling number of homeless children. It was launched as a collaboration in April 2019 at OFFSET (one the world’s leading creative conferences) and features beautiful artwork from some of Ireland’s best loved illustrators; including Lauren O’Neill (Gulliver), Steve McCarthy (Sally Go Round The Stars), Steve Simpson (Space Dogs), Peter Donnelly (The President’s Glasses), Tara O’Brien, Fatti Burke (Irelandopedia), Kevin Waldron (Harold’s Hungry Eyes), Yasmeen Ismail (Time for Bed Fred), and Alan Dunne. Each page is drawn in the unique and distinct style of the different illustrators as we go on a journey through the children’s imaginations. The description for the book reads:

"When their family loses their home, a little girl and her younger brother are left with nowhere to stay for Christmas. As they move from place to place, their parents distract them by taking them on a journey through their imaginations. "Everywhere they visit becomes an exciting new world. They climb mountains on a friend’s couch. They become ghosts in a hotel lobby. They go on safari while sleeping in their car… "But with all this moving around, where will they end up on Christmas Eve? And most importantly, how will Santa find them?"

“It’s shocking to think that for the eighth month in a row, more than 10,000 people are homeless in Ireland. It’s heartbreaking when you realise that almost 4,000, are children. Every day Focus Ireland works with families experiencing or at risk of homelessness," John O’Haire, Services Manager at Focus Ireland said. "We see the resilience of parents who are just trying to keep their children safe and give them a normal happy life. This crisis has a really detrimental and damaging effect on individuals and families. Every day Focus Ireland moves at least one family out of homelessness," he continued. "We’re delighted to have the support from this beautiful book to help us share the real experience of these families and to provide the vital services that will help even more to find a home.”

• ‘How will Santa find us?’ is published by Good Cop Good Cop, with editorial, production and distribution support from Gill Books. It is priced at €16.99 and is available in bookshops nationwide from 1st Nov, 2019.