Virtual band launch first nursery rhyme book

A GROUP of local musicians who have come together as The Speks are launching their first book of nursery rhymes, with an accompanying CD, in the Ennis Bookshop this Sunday afternoon.
The Speks is a six-piece virtual traditional music band that hail from a mythical island just off the coast of Ireland called Glasses Island where everyone wears glasses.
The idea, which resulted in the release of a CD of children’s nursery rhymes last year all played in a traditional Irish way with traditional music and, uniquely, sung by Irish men, with ‘real’ Irish accents, is the brainchild of flautist Paul Quinn. The CD has become very popular for toddlers and now The Speks have brought out an accompanying book, full of brightly illustrated fun pictures, to entertain any toddler.
Paul and his wife lived in Australia for some time and found there was a lot more on the market in terms of CDs and books for young children.
“I had read research by Mem Fox, the internationally respected literacy expert, in her book, Reading Magic. She has found that rhymers will be readers. She has said that if a child knows eight nursery rhymes by the time they are four years of age, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they are eight. When I came back from Australia, where we lived for a few years, I found that while there are nursery rhyme CDs, books, etc, on the market, that market is quite limited. What I found is that a majority of what’s on the market is in American or English accents, not that I’ve anything against either accent, but there is nothing available in English, spoken with an Irish accent. So when I looked around I couldn’t find anything suitable for what I was looking for my own children,” Paul commented.
The Speks’ first CD was Sing Along Songs from Glasses Island, which includes all-time favourite nursery rhymes, such as Humpty Dumpty, Incy Wincy Spider, Jelly on a Plate, Dance to your Daddy and many others. The new book to accompany this CD, being launched this Sunday, includes all of the same nursery rhymes, including some additional entertaining lyrics added in by the group.
The Speks are made up of Quince, Naymon, Tommo, Pete, Ed and Raftery. They live on Glasses Island where everyone wears glasses. In ancient times, the island was settled by a clan of Myopians and sometimes the island is still called Myopia. Place names on Glasses Island are derived from place names in Clare, such as North Rine Anna, Carrigawns, Lish-on-Ishka and Castle Grin.
Each of the characters in the band are based on the musicians who play in the band for the CD. They all feature prominently in the book illustrations also.
The CD won a parenting award in the United States.
Paul said that a number of The Speks will play at the launch on Sunday, accompanied by renowned musician Quentin Cooper, who is himself a fan of The Speks.