Kelpies News and Features
Category: Guest posts
What is Eid? Guest post by Yasmin Hanif
Posted on 12/03/26 in Guest posts, Picture Kelpies, Yasmin Hanif
Yasmin Hanif’s debut picture book, Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name, begins at Eid, when Abdullah’s parents give him a teddy bear as a gift. As Muslims ar …
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Guest Post: Gary Chudleigh on reading graphic novels
Posted on 03/03/26 in Author Interviews, Guest posts
Gary Chudleigh is an award-winning comic creator from Scotland. He has written several graphic novels, including an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Th …
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Playing with Celtic Tales
Posted on 04/12/25 in Guest posts, Lari Don
Guest Post by Lari Don I love sharing traditional tales: folktales, myths, fairy tales. But I also love playing with traditional tales. I find them sa …
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Celtic Tales – what does that mean?
Posted on 07/10/25 in Guest posts, Lari Don
Guest Post by Lari Don I love traditional tales about magic, shapeshifters, fairies and monsters (and clever ways to defeat monsters), and I love rese …
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10 Years of Thorfinn and Velda!
Posted on 15/08/25 in Author Interviews, Guest posts
We can’t quite believe it has been a whole decade since the first adventure of Thorfinn the Very-Very-Nice-Indeed! To celebrate the tenth anniv …
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Pride Month Spotlight: Justin Davies
Posted on 26/06/25 in Guest posts
This Pride Month, we’re shining the spotlight on Justin Davies, author of Haarville and Firebloom. In this special guest post, Justin shares what Prid …
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My Name is Samim: A Note from the Author
Posted on 24/04/25 in Books, Guest posts
“My life can’t just be about surviving this journey…” Thirteen-year-old Samim is a loyal friend, a gifted chess player – and a refugee. Even after he …
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Remembering Mike Phillips
Posted on 23/09/24 in Guest posts, Illustrators
Mike Phillips (1961 – 2024) was the illustrator of many beloved children’s book series, including the Museum Mystery Squad, Fact-tastic Stories from S …
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Behind the Folklore at the Edge of the Silver Sea
Posted on 12/08/24 in Books, Fun Stuff, Guest posts
“One of the last places in the world where the human and fey realms still overlap…” Myths and stories about the fey — or fae, fay, faeries, fairies …
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Meet the Characters at the Edge of the Silver Sea
Posted on 05/08/24 in Books, Fun Stuff, Guest posts
“An island all alone at the edge of the silver sea. In a place like this, anything could happen…” Forced to move to the remote island of Roscoe, Bla …
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Exploring Scotland’s Past with David MacPhail
Posted on 08/09/23 in Books, Fun Stuff, Guest posts
10 Free Historical Sites Perfect for Family Adventures Days out with the kids can cost an arm and a leg, but it doesn’t have to cost a penny. Let chil …
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Guest Post: The Mammal Society on Mountain Hares
Posted on 13/03/23 in Books, Guest posts
This Spring, Team Kelpies are celebrating the publication of Maisie the Mountain Hare: the brand new picture book by Lynne Rickards and Abigail Hookha …
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Guest Post: Hannah Foley on life as a writer and a nurse
Posted on 11/03/21 in Authors, Books, Guest posts
We are immensely proud to be working with Hannah Foley, who is not only an author and illustrator, but is also a district nurse. Her Kelpies Prize-win …
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Guest Post: Imagining Unicorns by Nataša Ilinčić
Posted on 13/02/20 in Guest posts
In today’s guest post, illustrator Nataša Ilinčić takes us through the process of creating her latest picture book, The Legend of the First Unicorn. I …
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Guest Post: Searching for Unicorns by Lari Don
Posted on 13/02/20 in Guest posts, Lari Don
Have you ever been surprised by a unicorn? In today’s guest blog, Lari Don explains why Scotland has so many of these mythical creatures… Surprised …
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The Boy with the Butterfly Mind: Blog Tour
Posted on 24/09/19 in Author Interviews, Guest posts, Victoria Williamson
To celebrate the launch of The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, author Victoria Williamson has been busy in the blogosphere with guest posts, interviews a …
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Guest Post: Sisterhood by Emily Ilett
Posted on 19/09/19 in Guest posts
The Girl Who Lost Her Shadow The Girl Who Lost her Shadow is the stunning debut novel from Kelpies Prize winner Emily Ilett. It is a lyrical, immersiv …
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Greyfriars Bobby – Reimagining a Legend
Posted on 30/07/19 in Guest posts, Traditional Scottish Tales
In this guest post, author Michelle Sloan discusses how she went about reimagining a world-famous Scottish legend for her brand new picture book, Grey …
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Guest Post: How to Write a Mystery by David MacPhail
Posted on 15/08/18 in Features for Teachers, Guest posts
We all love a good mystery, and David MacPhail’s latest Top-Secret Grandad adventure, Death by Soup, is at the top of our to read pile. We caught up w …
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Join #PickleOnTour with Kate McLelland
Posted on 18/06/18 in Design and Illustration, Fun Stuff, Guest posts, Kate McLelland
It’s official – our favourite Shetland pony is back! Today is the first stop on Kate McLelland’s blog tour, which is celebrating the return of Isla an …
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#FlorisDesign meets Melanie Mitchell
Posted on 15/06/18 in Design and Illustration, Guest posts, Illustrators
Sung throughout Scottish homes up and down the country, classic rhymes and traditional tunes make for fun, interactive stoytime sessions. Some of them …
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Guest post: Alan Dapre on what makes a funny book
Posted on 20/04/18 in Books, Guest posts, Young Kelpies
What makes a funny book? Making a book laugh-out-loud (or even just quietly-giggling) funny is a huge challenge. But it’s something that Alan Dapré do …
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Birdwatching – Finding Artistic Inspiration in Nature
Posted on 16/02/18 in Guest posts, Illustrators
Throughout the month of February, schools up and down the country are taking part in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch. The RSPB initiative aims to both enco …
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Illustrating Children’s Crime Fiction
Posted on 16/10/17 in Design and Illustration, Fun Stuff, Guest posts, Illustrators
In our latest #FlorisDesign interview we spoke to Spanish illustrator, Laura Aviñó, about illustrating children’s crime fiction in David MacPhail’s ne …
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Guest Post: Top-Secret Sidekicks by David MacPhail
Posted on 14/07/17 in Guest posts
Many great detectives have a sidekick, or work in a team. Think Mulder and Scully, Charlie’s Angels, Scooby Doo and his gang, and loads more! Read on …
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Guest post: Writing for girls and boys
Posted on 18/05/17 in Authors, Guest posts
Alan Dapré is the author of more than 60 books for children, including the hilarious Porridge the Tartan Cat series. In this guest blog post, he refle …
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Would you trust this Spellchasers character?
Posted on 20/04/17 in Guest posts, Lari Don
In The Beginner’s Guide to Curses, we met the Spellchasers team. The unluckily cursed Molly, Beth the dryad, Innes the Kelpie, and Atacama the sphinx. …
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Guest Blog – Telling stories through poetry by Louise Greig
Posted on 16/03/17 in Books, Guest posts
Spring-time is always a busy one at Floris HQ with lots of new books being published. In today’s guest blog post, Aberdonian author Louise Greig talks …
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“Why do we read scary books?”
Posted on 31/10/16 in Guest posts
“Why do we read scary books?” I ask the children in the school hall on my visits to talk about Shadowsmith. “Because it’s exciting!” “It makes us feel …
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Gangin on a Word Hunt: translating the sounds of a classic into Scots
Posted on 17/08/16 in Books, Guest posts
by Susan Rennie There are many magical things about Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s classic picture book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: the hypnotic …
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What’s Greenock Famous For?
Posted on 26/05/16 in Author Interviews, Guest posts
There’s something in the Greenock water! With three wonderful authors from this West Coast town, we decided to ask them what makes Greenock famous and …
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Guest Blog: Reading makes you better at football!
Posted on 19/05/16 in Guest posts
Danny Scott, author of the Scotland Stars F.C. series and goalie for Scotland Writers F.C. tells us why reading is important for football and other sp …
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Guest post: Cute baby animals by Lynne Rickards
Posted on 24/03/16 in Guest posts
When the main character of your picture book is a baby puffin who grows up, you’ve got a bit of a problem. Skye the Puffling starts as a fluffy little …
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The Kelpies Prize 2026: Shortlist Announced!
