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How to Catch
How to Catch a Leprechaun
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! How to catch a leprechaun? It's tougher than you think! He'll turn your whole house upside down. He's quicker than a wink! You've been planning night and day, and finally you've created the perfect trap with shamrocks, pots of gold, and rainbows galore! Now all you need to do is wait. Is this the year you'll finally catch the leprechaun?
Audio CD
First published February 2, 2016
85 people are currently reading
1230 people want to read
About the author
Adam Wallace
202 books285 followersAdam Wallace is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author of the How to Catch series!
Adam's passion is to bring excitement and energy and humour and joy to children (of all ages!) through his books and videos.
He spends his non-writing time thinking about writing and going to as many live music shows as he can. He's also teaching himself piano, and plays golf too.
Adam's passion is to bring excitement and energy and humour and joy to children (of all ages!) through his books and videos.
He spends his non-writing time thinking about writing and going to as many live music shows as he can. He's also teaching himself piano, and plays golf too.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
March 15, 2018
The art is bright and vibrant. It jumps off the page at you.
This book needs to be renamed to How not to catch a Leprechaun. Nothing they did worked. The Leprechaun is sneaky. So, once a year he likes to enter people's houses simply to avoid traps. It's an entertaining story. The kids loved this one. They laughed their way through it.
This book needs to be renamed to How not to catch a Leprechaun. Nothing they did worked. The Leprechaun is sneaky. So, once a year he likes to enter people's houses simply to avoid traps. It's an entertaining story. The kids loved this one. They laughed their way through it.
October 21, 2020
This one will give the kids ideas on how to make a mess! I love the fun in reading this though.
June 29, 2023
Adorable illustrations and story!
March 13, 2025
That leprechaun is crazy!
March 12, 2021
A funny and cute story about catching a leprechaun. Bright and colorful art that comes to life in this book. I also like the rhymes and use of words. Great story for kids.
March 30, 2020
I’m a bit behind for St. Patrick’s Day but this story was cute, rhyming and clever. The illustrations were colorful and lively and the story is fun for all children and adults alike. I could see this being read in a classroom and kids being asked to come up with their own traps for catching a leprechaun-drawing, building, etc. or something fun for kids to do now while in the midst of home lockdowns...you could use crayons, play doh, building blocks, items around the house...a cute read for St. Patrick’s Day or anytime.
June 14, 2017
STEAM combined with Saint Patrick's Day. Love it!
February 21, 2020
Only 32 pages, it was very cool :)
February 1, 2020
Black, White, Latin, Asian- Kids of all nations want nothing more than to CATCH THAT LEPRECHAUN! #irishpride (#notirish, #honoraryirish)
October 18, 2017
This story is a very engaging story that is written in prose. This book is a book I read during Saint Patricks day in conjunction with a STEM activity to add to the story's plot. Throughout this story the students are shown different ways that kids have tried to catch the leprechaun but have been unsuccessful each time. In the illustrations you can see many intricate designs and many different strategies that each child used. This leads to multiple discussions on how they tried and why they were unsuccessful at catching the leprechaun. With each turn of the page the students are able to discuss what they could've done differently to catch the leprechaun. The book ends in such a great way and is left the students saying MEEEE I CAN DO IT!!!!!! "You'll never catch this Leprechaun. Impossible! That's a fact! Unless, one day, a brilliant child designs the perfect trap! Who will this child be?"
This book is a WOW book to me because the illustrations and words seem to pop off the page and draw you into the story. I believe the author and illustrator did a FABULOUS job with this book. If you haven't read the book just yet go ahead and buy your copy now because once March rolls around it will be sold out!
This book is a WOW book to me because the illustrations and words seem to pop off the page and draw you into the story. I believe the author and illustrator did a FABULOUS job with this book. If you haven't read the book just yet go ahead and buy your copy now because once March rolls around it will be sold out!
February 7, 2017
Wallace, Adam. How to Catch a Leprechaun. 1 CD. unabridged. 6 min. Dreamscape Media. ISBN 9781520063416.
The bestselling creators of the holiday classic, How to Catch an Elf, are back with another adorable book to delight children and families. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day or just general laughs, How to Catch a Leprechaun, will inspire children to get creative and build the best "leprechaun traps" they can invent. A naughty leprechaun taunts the reader on every page that the traps set out by other children aren't clever enough to catch him or his pot of gold. Since the leprechaun can't be caught, he wreaks havoc on the house, dying the toilets green and other mischievous pranks that children will enjoy. Narrated with British joviality by Qarie Marshall, children will delight in his hilarious telling of the naughty leprechaun who can't be caught. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN
The bestselling creators of the holiday classic, How to Catch an Elf, are back with another adorable book to delight children and families. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day or just general laughs, How to Catch a Leprechaun, will inspire children to get creative and build the best "leprechaun traps" they can invent. A naughty leprechaun taunts the reader on every page that the traps set out by other children aren't clever enough to catch him or his pot of gold. Since the leprechaun can't be caught, he wreaks havoc on the house, dying the toilets green and other mischievous pranks that children will enjoy. Narrated with British joviality by Qarie Marshall, children will delight in his hilarious telling of the naughty leprechaun who can't be caught. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN
April 13, 2025
Not worth the library hold wait list
March 16, 2023
Summary: St. Patrick's Day is near and the leprechaun is here. He is going around houses and testing the traps set out for him. He is pretty confident that no trap will catch him and he is having loads of fun testing them all and creating big messes on the way. He says it's impossible to catch him and says it's a fact. Unless, one day, a brilliant child designs a perfect trap.
Review: This book should be called How Not to Catch a Leprechaun, considering all the attempts are fiascos and loads of fun for us readers. The rhythmic and rhyming text, with colorful and funny illustration, are great. This book is a definite winner for the little ones and I would recommend it as an ideal St. Patrick's Day read-aloud for preschool - Grade 1 - especially if they are about to design or test their leprechaun traps.
Review: This book should be called How Not to Catch a Leprechaun, considering all the attempts are fiascos and loads of fun for us readers. The rhythmic and rhyming text, with colorful and funny illustration, are great. This book is a definite winner for the little ones and I would recommend it as an ideal St. Patrick's Day read-aloud for preschool - Grade 1 - especially if they are about to design or test their leprechaun traps.
March 3, 2016
We received this book to give an honest review.
LOVE, LOVE,LOVE this story of how to catch a leprechaun.
I read this to both K and A at different times. A being three liked to find the leprechaun that was avoiding being captured and thought the pictures were cool.
K read this book to me and couldn't believe all the traps that the kids were putting in place. He thought it was funny when the leprechaun took care of the smelly shoes. This book is a great story to read whenever but it is perfect for St. Patrick's Day .
The pictures are bright and colorful and I think will keep the children engaged and laughing.
LOVE, LOVE,LOVE this story of how to catch a leprechaun.
I read this to both K and A at different times. A being three liked to find the leprechaun that was avoiding being captured and thought the pictures were cool.
K read this book to me and couldn't believe all the traps that the kids were putting in place. He thought it was funny when the leprechaun took care of the smelly shoes. This book is a great story to read whenever but it is perfect for St. Patrick's Day .
The pictures are bright and colorful and I think will keep the children engaged and laughing.
October 18, 2018
I've fallen hard for Adam Wallace and his 'How to Catch' series of picture books. Perfect recommendation for read aloud, storytime and for teachers to use to instill S.T.E.M. or S.T.E.A.M. for creative thinking;
Told through rhyme and colorful illustrations, a clever leprechaun is not impressed by the traps laid out by kids and even the grown up's who try to catch him, and the book keeps the reader guessing, will they catch him? Can they catch him?
The book offers up a lot of ideas for rube Goldberg and inventor types, see if you can make your own leprechaun trap. Can you catch a leprechaun?
Told through rhyme and colorful illustrations, a clever leprechaun is not impressed by the traps laid out by kids and even the grown up's who try to catch him, and the book keeps the reader guessing, will they catch him? Can they catch him?
The book offers up a lot of ideas for rube Goldberg and inventor types, see if you can make your own leprechaun trap. Can you catch a leprechaun?
March 13, 2018
The title is a little misleading - they never do catch the leprechaun, but there are plenty of ideas on how to try! Not exceptional or truly classic, but for a younger audience at a St. Patrick's Day storytime, this fits the bill. So many St Patrick's day picture books are longer, harder to keep a larger audience of young ones focused. This one is short, has a lot of silly details in the pictures, and the rhymes flow fairly well. I'll definitely be using it again for storytimes in the future.
March 31, 2020
A fun, rhyming book that that follows the attempts of children and their families to construct traps for catching a leprechaun. The whole town seems to be in on the fun, but will they succeed? Bright colorful illustrations, coupled with silly situations, make this a fun and engaging read.
Check this book out from the Villa Park Public Library!
Check this book out from the Villa Park Public Library!
May 31, 2017
Another fun "How to Catch a..." series by the author and illustrator. My son said though the title is misleading because they don't tell how to catch the leprechaun they show all the different ways the leprechaun escapes the many different traps kids set up. I have a full review on my blog.
https://adalinc.org/2017/03/st-patric...
*I received a copy of this book from Raincoast Books in order to facilitate a review*
https://adalinc.org/2017/03/st-patric...
*I received a copy of this book from Raincoast Books in order to facilitate a review*
May 7, 2025
As a former teacher, now I know where the leprechaun traps started coming from.
Frankly I don't know how to feel about that, considering that I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning too many days before St. Patrick's Day making outfits for the leprechaun traps the kids made.
Besides that, this was cute. Nothing extraordinary, but with lively prose and cheeky illustrations, this is sure to be an entertaining read aloud for children on St. Patrick's Day.
Frankly I don't know how to feel about that, considering that I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning too many days before St. Patrick's Day making outfits for the leprechaun traps the kids made.
Besides that, this was cute. Nothing extraordinary, but with lively prose and cheeky illustrations, this is sure to be an entertaining read aloud for children on St. Patrick's Day.
February 6, 2017
This is the book I would recommend to read the elementary class on St. Patrick's Day. It shows how the characters plan to catch the leprechaun after he leaves messes for them after their traps to catch him do not work. This would be a good story starter or prompt for kids to write their own ideas for catching a leprechaun and finding his pot of gold. Colorful and fun illustrations.
March 21, 2017
Read this cute little St. Patrick's Day book with the kinders today. It is told from the leprechaun's point of view as he nimbly avoids all the traps that are set for him. It rhymes and has vivid illustrations. I would highly recommend to everyone who has small children or a classroom to read for the holiday.
March 25, 2017
It was harder than I thought to find a book for St. Patrick's Day that was kind of what I was looking for. This book introduced leprechauns to Alistair (almost 2.5) and had rhyming text about kids trying to catch the leprechaun. I didn't love it but it was good enough for this year. Next year I want to find something I like better.
January 25, 2016
different' scenarios of children's trying to catch a leprechaun while in their house. Sometimes hard to follow as you don't see much of the actual leprechaun. Some good St Patrick's day activities mentioned.
April 1, 2016
This is an adorable rhyming book for kids. It will be wonderful to use next year for my kindergarten students. I also should recommend it to Christie DeVore when she has her students build leprechaun traps.
March 16, 2017
Picked up the How to Catch an Elf book for the kiddos back during the holidays and it was a big hit. I was looking for a fun way to celebrate St Patrick's Day with them, so I picked this one up. I liked How to Catch an Elf a bit better, but still very cute.
June 8, 2017
My youngest child (age 5) was really into leprechauns this past St. Patrick's Day. This book was a great follow-up to having created her own leprechaun traps at school and at home. I think this would be a fun book to read to a preschool and/or kindergarten class.
March 4, 2018
This book is so cute! My son loved the drawings and me explaining how the Leprechaun escaped all the traps the kids made! This book is definitely going into my sons little library so we have it on hand to read and read again.
February 2, 2020
This is a neat little book where the author follows the trail of a leprechaun to see how the kids are doing in their attempt to trap him. The illustrations are colorful and fun. Kids will enjoy this one. Recommended for Grades K-1.
May 31, 2016
Seems designed to sell an "Elf on the Shelf" type of holiday item. Rhyming text felt too forced & commercialized to me.
March 13, 2018
Really liked this as a follow-up to the book we read last week. Read with PreK and Kindergarten.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews