Extra time to read
Whether you’re thinking with some trepidation about forthcoming periods of self-isolation with young children or keen to grow a love of reading in littlies whatever the virus threat level, Scotland’s authors, illustrators and publishers have plenty to offer.
We’ve rounded up a few recommendations by age-range and would love to hear your own favourites in the comments. (If your own circumstances allow, purchasing a couple of these from your local indie or preferred retailer would help shore up our writers and publishers, who are preparing for tough times alongside many other creative freelancers and customer-facing businesses).
Perfect picture books for under 5s
There’s a Bear on my Chair by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow)
Mouse is quite peeved to discover a Bear in his favourite chair and tries all sorts of tactics to move the interloper. When Mouse finally gives in, Bear ambles off home… but wait! Is there someone in Bear’s house? A laugh-out-loud picture book from a bestselling Scottish author/illustrator. Check out his full range of titles on his website. You can watch Ross on Authors Live from BBC Scotland and Scottish Book Trust at and find learning resources from Amnesty International and many others for ideas on how to explore the book further if you’re looking for home-learning inspiration.
The Station Mouse by Meg McLaren (Andersen Press)
Maurice is a Station Mouse, and so must follow The Station Mouse Handbook. He must remain unseen. He must not go out in daylight. He must never approach the passengers. But what if Maurice breaks the rules? The Station Mouse won the Bookbug Prize 2019 and you will find lots of resources online.
Watch Meg read the book and find links to additional resources and tips on accessing the book for use with children with additional support needs.
Crime Squirrel Investigators by Emily Dodds and Giulia Cregut (Little Door Books)
An audacious theft has been committed and Rosie and Charlie must follow the clues to solve the crime. At its heart a story about friendship and saying sorry, Dodds also brings her background in science to Charlie and Rosie’s mission, meaning that the book is a great way to support young investigators in looking for clues in nature.
The Fourth Bonniest Baby in Dundee by Michelle Sloan and Kasia Matyasek (Floris Books)
One very grubby baby has been scrubbed up for the judges, but on the way to the competition the bus breaks down… Once baby has made his way through the puddles and the rain, will he still stand a chance at being judged The Bonniest Baby in Dundee? A fun rhyming text that is a joy to read aloud, with vibrant illustrations brimming with fun and humour.
Fantastic first readers for 5–8s
Balloon to the Moon by Gill Arbuthnott and Chris Neilsen (Templar)
Many young readers (in common with many grown-up readers) are most motivated by non-fiction. This big and beautiful book by scientist Arbuthnott engagingly relates the history of flight and space exploration, and invites an imaginative engagement with future potential.
Captain Firebeard’s School for Pirates: The Sneaky Sweet Stealer by Chae Strathie, illustrated by Anna Chernyshova (Scholastic)
It’s a new term at Captain Firebeard’s School for Pirates, the fiercest, baddest school on all the Seven Seas, and Tommy, Jo, Milton and Spencer must solve the swashbuckling mystery of the Sneaky Sweet Stealer. Rollicking good fun with just the right amount of pirate cliché. For newly independent readers, series can be a brilliant way to build up reading mileage with familiar content, and the adventures of those on board the Rusty Barnacle continue in a range of stand-alone adventures.
Thorfinn the Nicest Viking by David MacPhail, illustrated by Richard Morgan (Floris Books)
Poor Thorfinn lives with a rough and ready bunch of Vikings who think politeness is pointless. Another series designed to engage new readers with familiar characters and settings.
To Wee or Not to Wee by Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
Izzy, star of Pamela Butchart’s Wigglesbottom Primary books (Baby Aliens Got My Teacher etc.), introduces readers to four of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays in her own inimitable way. From the important role of lasagne in Hamlet to Lady Macbeth’s challenges in laying on a last-minute buffet for King Duncan, this is Shakespeare as you never knew him before. Perfect for Horrible Histories fans.
Fantastic fiction — and non-fiction — for 8–12s
Tales from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French, illustrated by Ross Collins (Penguin Random House)
Five gloriously gothic tales of magic, mayhem (and madcap humour) with splendid casts of fairytale characters and quite the most stylishly attired villians in children’s fiction — this lot would give Cruella deVil a run for her money.
World of Norm by Jonathan Meres, illustrated by Donough O’ Malley (Orchard)
In this laugh-out-loud series from a former stand-up comedian, Norm’s adventures kick off with the mortifying realisation that he has woken up not in the bathroom of the family’s new house, but about to pee in his dad’s wardrobe… again. Hapless Norm’s misfortunes are illustrated by witty cartoons and are guaranteed to appeal to fans of Wimpy Kid.
The Nowhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie (Floris Books)
MacKenzie’s beguiling tale of a mysterious shop and its magical labyrinths of enchantment won him the Blue Peter Best Story Award 2016 and the Scottish Children’s Book Award 2016. Readers can look forward to embarking on a magical journey that continues through two further instalments.
The Strega Borgia Chronicles by Debi Gliori
Beginning with 2001’s Pure Dead Magic, Gliori’s black comic novels follow the exploits of an Addams Family-eqsue Italian clan in a fictional Argyll hamlet. Gliori is best known as a picture book artist, and brings a gloriously visual imagination to her fiction.
Terrific teen titles for 12+
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Egmont)
Wein’s breakthrough novel, this is a compelling account of the friendship between a WWII English pilot and a Scottish spy in Occupied France, framed in the main as the confession of the latter in Nazi detention. An intense examination of friendship and impossible decisions, the book is brilliantly plotted and precisely written.
Another Me by Cathy MacPhail (Bloomsbury)
Adapted for the big screen starring Jonathon Rhys Meyers, Catherine MacPhail’s teasing, unsettling novel follows the gradual unravelling of Fay as an apparent doppelgänger begins to encroach on her life. Fast-moving and accessible, the novel nonetheless plays with expectation and invites the reader to grapple with an unreliable narrator and an equivocal ending.
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta (Hodder)
One of a recent clutch of verse novels for teens, Atta tells the coming-of-age story of Michael, a Jamaican-Greek Cypriot coming out as gay. In his last years of school and first at university, Michael comes to terms with his identity, finding a place where he feels he belongs - in the university’s drag society, as the ‘Black Flamingo’. A bold and beautiful work calling to young readers to find their own inner confidence and truth.
The Weight of a Thousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
Seventeen-year-old Bobby Seed is wise beyond his years, a devoted son and brother and a master of upbeat banter. He’s also a young carer to his mum who’s suffering from debilitating MS and makes an enormous, challenging ask of her son. A tough, funny and sometimes shocking book that positions Conaghan as one of the UK’s very best authors for children and young people (even if he has decamped to the Republic of Ireland).
Supportive titles for struggling and reluctant readers
Edinburgh-based Barrington Stoke specialises in accessible fiction for children who struggle to engage with books due to dyslexia or other barriers.
Cool stuff for comic book and graphic novel fans
For a stable of Scottish comic books and graphic novels, head to the websites of Diamondsteel, BHP Comics and Papercuts (the latter being the publisher of Metaphrog’s fairytale adaptations). And jings, crivens, help ma boab — don’t forget those stalwarts of the Scottish scene, The Broons and Oor Wullie. Generations of Scottish kids have learned to read with Dundee’s best.
