Review: Two New Scottish Picture Books

This post contains gifted items.

The Scottish chapter books of the week are taking a break this week, as I have two fantastic new Scottish picture books to share with you that are published today. We were sent copies of these for review.

The first book is called My Granny Went to Scotland and brought back… by Mike Nicholson, illustrated by Patrick Corrigan. This fun book is inspired by the memory game ‘My Granny went to market and brought back’ (also known as ‘I packed my suitcase and in it I put’) where each player choses what to ‘bring back’ from market (or ‘put in’ their suitcase) but first they need to recall what all the players before them chose. The longer the game continues, the more you have to remember.

This time there’s a Scottish twist, with Granny bringing her family gifts from her trip to Scotland, each one bigger than the next, from sugary shortbread to a cumbersome caber – and bigger! As the living room fills up hilarity ensues. What will Granny bring next? There’s a fold out page at the end too, with a nice final wee twist.

The book is listed for ages 3-6 by the publisher. The bold colourful illustrations and the fact there is not a huge amount of text will appeal particularly to younger children, while older children can challenge themselves to remember the list of things Granny brought, just like in the memory game – simply cover up the text when you turn over the page, and see if you can remember everything before revealing what comes next! The alliterations of each gift – sugary shortbread, ticklish tartan, cumbersome caber – act as great memory aids.

My Granny Went to Scotland would make a great gift for anyone visiting Scotland to take back home, for anyone living in Scotland to send to friends abroad, or just for anyone who loves fun, colourful stories with a Scottish twist.

The book is available via BookShop.uk (affiliate link) and the Kelpies website.

The second book is called By the Beaver Pool by Catherine Ward, illustrated by Phoebe Roze. The story is inspired by the beaver rewilding programmes which have been in progress in Scotland since 2009!

In the book, a young child named Beck moves with their mum to live on Grandma’s farm in Scotland. At first Beck is sad at missing their old house and friends, but then Grandma shows Beck the pair of beavers that have ‘moved in’ to the stream by the farm. Watching the beavers through the seasons, building a dam and ‘house’ (called a lodge) and settling in to their new environment, helps Beck to settle in and find happiness in their new home with Grandma too. At the same time, young reader are introduced to the brilliance of beavers, and how they can increase biodiversity and help us tackle some of the challenges we face with climate change.

In contrast to ‘My Granny Went to Scotland…’ this is a much gentler, slower story, with soft and more muted illustrations. It is also listed for ages 3-6 by the publisher, but I think would equally appeal to children even older than that who still enjoy reading picture books as there is a decent amount of text.

In fact, there are so many different layers in this book, that I think it can have a wide appeal. Firstly, there’s the theme of new beginnings, settling in to a new place and making it your home. Perfect for children who themselves have moved and are maybe feeling a bit homesick. You may also have noticed above, I didn’t refer to Beck as him or her. That’s because the book leaves it open. Beck is a gender neutral name, and portrayed as a child with short-ish hair, so could be either, which means children of any gender can identify with the protagonist of the story.

For the animal and nature lovers, there’s the connection with nature, and the beautiful, calming, water colour style illustrations of the Scottish landscape. The story itself doesn’t actually mention Scotland, but it’s referenced in the blurb of the inside cover, and the illustrator is originally from the Scottish Highlands and cites the landscapes and nature of Scotland as her inspiration. And did you know that one of the meanings of the name ‘Beck’ is ‘brook’ or ‘stream’. Given the setting of the story, I think that’s a lovely extra touch.

And finally, for the science lovers there are the real life facts about beavers that are woven in to the story – I have to confess I didn’t know much about these incredible animals, and learned so much from reading the story. There are some bonus pages at the back of the book too, with even more beaver facts!

So, whether you know a child who has just moved home, who love animals, feels happiest in nature, or loves their science facts, this beautiful book would make an excellent gift!

By the Beaver Pool is available via BookShop.uk (affiliate link) and the Kelpies website.

Disclosure: We were sent free copies of ‘My Granny Went to Scotland’ and ‘By the Beaver Pool’ by Kelpie books, in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own. If you buy any books via the BookShop.uk affiliate links, we will receive a small donation which helps to keep this blog running. Thank you.