Our 2017 highlights

It’s been another busy year at Kelpies HQ. With lots of new books, new faces and new ventures the past 12 months have been exciting, stimulating and rewarding for our team. Read on to find out about our 2017 highlights.

It’s been another bumper year for Kelpies with 28 new books hitting bookshop shelves in 2017! From moving mammoths to ghost grandads, and from tartan cats to wandering bears this year’s books have been wholly original and diverse, embodying beautiful artwork and stretching children’s imaginations. Of course, we’ll have plenty of new books joining us in 2018 too!

Three new members of staff joined us at Kelpies HQ in 2017. Jennie Skinner (Assistant Editor) and Karyn McMurray (Editor) joined our Editorial team, whilst Morag Bramhall joined our busy Production team as Production Controller. We’re delighted to welcome them at a time when we’re going from strength to strength.

In 2017 we also started publishing a range of fun and engaging Scottish activity books for children titled Kelpies World. A Super Scotland Sticker Book was hugely popular with wee ones and families when it launched in the summer. Watch out for A Super Scotland Activity Book next year.

Ever wondered how an illustrator works on a sticker book? Read our #FlorisDesign interview with A Super Scotland Sticker Book illustrator, Susana Gurrea.

It was another brilliant year for the Kelpies Design and Illustration Prize. The judges had a particularly difficult decision to make as the standard of submissions was extremely high. Aimee Ferrier was the talented winner and her artwork was used as part of the final book cover design for Ruby McCracken: Tragic Without Magic by Elizabeth Ezra. The judges loved the style of Aimee’s illustration and were impressed by her use of humour and detail. Entries are now open for 2018! Find out more here.

The quality of submissions for the Kelpies Prize was another one of our 2017 highlights. Best-selling children’s author Chae Strathie presented Emily Ilett with her prize at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August. Emily entranced the judges with her lyrical tale of sisterhood, The Girl Who Lost Her Shadow. Bookbug Picture Book Prize nominee Chae Strathie was on hand to present the prize. As well as a gigantic cheque for £2000, Emily has secured a coveted publishing deal with Floris Books. Find out more about the Kelpies Prize.

2017 was packed with launches and author events in schools, libraries, bookshops and even at Hampden Park. If you’d like an author to host an event at your school or library then why not apply for Live Literature funding? Applications are now open for events taking place between 1 April and 31 December 2018. Remember to apply by 25th January!

We also hit festival fever in 2017 as our authors participated in lots of book festivals around the UK. These included Edinburgh International Book Festival, Wigtown Book Festival, Bradford Literature Festival, Wee Write, Off the Page Festival, Shetland Wordplay and many more!

Congratulations to all of our authors on what has been yet another fantastic year at for Kelpies books. Want to know what books are coming your way in 2018? Sign up to our mailing list to hear all about our news, features, books and future author events.

What were your 2017 highlights? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

Finally, we would like to wish all of our fabulous readers a very Happy Christmas and New Year!