Picture Books for Visiting Edinburgh

Friday Five Edinburgh

A while ago, I did a round up of our favourite Scottish kids books. But with our recent return to Scotland’s bonnie capital, and the Edinburgh Festival about to kick off, I thought it would be the perfect time to follow up with another edition of Scottish kids books just about Edinburgh! So without further ado, clockwise starting from top left:

  • Maisie’s Festival Adventure, by Aileen Paterson – You can’t have a round of up kids books about Edinburgh, without the city’s most beloved cat, Maisie. I still have my very first Maisie book, ‘Maisie Comes to Morningside’. Since then, she has been on many more adventures and with the Festival is about to kick off, I thought this title would be perfect for the round up. But if you can’t get hold of this title, any of the Maisie books are great (another favourite of ours is ‘What Maisie Did Next‘, which is set at the National Museum of Scotland). If you are visiting Edinburgh, you can also keep a lookout for Maisie on the side of some of the city’s buses!
  • Edinburgh 123, by Lauren Gentry & Anna Day – This chunky board book is perfect for any little ones. Count your way through Edinburgh, from 1 Castle (though Edinburgh actually boasts more than one Castle, but pssst) to 10 witches, past monuments, bagpipes, shortbread and more.
  • This is Edinburgh, by Miroslav Sasek – This is technically not a story book, but we love the Sasek guide books (we have the ones for Washington, D.C. and New York City too). It covers all the must see sights, and while some of the info is a bit out of date (the National Museum of Scotland is referred to as the Royal Scottish Museum, for example), the beautiful illustrations more than make up for it. Perfect both for preparing for a trip to Edinburgh, or as a souvenir.
  • Greyfriars Bobby, by Ruth Brown – There are several different picture book versions of this real life story about the famous dog Bobby who guarded his masters grave for years after his death, but this version from Ruth Brown is my favourite. A lovely story that will be sure to capture children’s imaginations, and after you’ve read it, you can visit Greyfriars Kirkyard if you are in Edinburgh, and have your picture taken with Bobby’s statue. Just please don’t rub his nose! Contrary to what some tour guides might tell you, it’s NOT a local tradition and just damages the statue.
  • Hamish McHaggis and the Edinburgh Adventure, by Linda Strachan & Sally J. Collins – Last, but not least, Scotland loves its bonkers haggis stories (see ‘Horace the Haggis’ in my previous round up). There is a whole series of books about Hamish and his friends, and in this edition they travel to Edinburgh as Hamish has tickets to go see the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. But will they make it in time?

Do you have any other favourite picture books about Edinburgh to recommend? Please feel free to share your recommendations in the comments.


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Comments: 9

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    I don’t think I have ever read a book about Edinburgh before :-) the one about the dog sounds lovely :-)

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    Oh we love Edinburgh and visit often, I will have to get my children some of these books to read on our next journey there x

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    The one with the pandas looks cute and perfect for my little one

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    They all sound like lovely books. I particularly like the idea of Edinburgh 123, especially as it might help with learning to count, but in a fun way.

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    I love the idea of reading story books about a place you may be visiting – I’d never thought of doing that :)

  • reply
    4 August 2017

    What a wonderful way to theme your children’s books! And who knew there were so many picture books about Edinburgh?

  • reply
    5 August 2017

    I would love to visit Edinburgh, it looks like such an amazing city, filled with so many historical and beautiful buildings, plus these books are great for any family planning on a visit.

  • reply
    5 August 2017

    I’d love to go to Edinburgh but the flights are just ridiculous! I shall definitely be looking up this list when we finally get there!

  • reply
    5 August 2017

    This is a lovely idea to relate places to stories and introduce places to visit. I haven’t read any of these :(

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