Summer in the City
Great Reads to See You Through the Long Days
From the Edinburgh International Book Festival to Parisian recipes, we want to take you on a city break in books this summer.
Award-winning and much-beloved children’s book author, Debi Gliori, is this year’s illustrator-in-residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The author of such modern classics as No Matter What, What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf? and, most recently, Alfie in the Garden and Alfie in the Bath, she took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk to us about watercolours, dragons and the best advice she could ever give anyone.
BFS: Your work addresses the big questions of childhood, and touches on everything from the arrival of new babies to the fear of being alone, from non-conformity to environmental responsibility. How does illustration allow you to explore such complex topics, and do you adapt your style to individual themes?
DG: Illustration is an infinitely flexible gateway into exploring the big questions – it will boldly go where words cannot, or perhaps where words would express a difficult subject in too direct a fashion. In truth, when I begin to write a book, the first thing that comes to me ideas-wise is always an image. I write for and to and about the pictures in my head. The whole of my practice is about endeavouring to put those pictures down on paper without anything getting in the way. I’ve found that illustration allows me to explore some very sensitive themes in a way that doesn’t threaten the small children who the books are for. By drawing animals as my protagonists, I can tackle the big questions of childhood at one remove; children can identify with what the animals are feeling without themselves feeling in any way exposed....
Shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, chosen as an Amazon Rising Star and tipped by the Independent as ‘the next Gone Girl‘, this accomplished thriller explores themes of guilt, innocence, collusion and the search for belonging. Watch the book trailer and read an extract below.
Extract from Things We Have in Common By Tasha Kavanagh Published by Canongate Books
The first time I saw you, you were standing at the far end of the playing field near the bit of fence that’s trampled down, where the kids that come to school along the wooded path cut across.
You were looking down at your little brown straggly dog that had its face stuck i...
How the Kelpies Prize built Floris Books By Chani McBain
I think we can all agree that literacy competitions are important. It’s important for authors and would-be authors to have an outlet for their creativity: to be heard, acknowledged, encouraged and rewarded. It’s important for our society and the literature sector to showcase creativity, and awards serve as a source of inspiration to anyone hesitating about whether to put pen to paper (or, more likely now, fingers to keyboards). Without contacts or nepotism, writers can have their work read and, occasionally, published.
But the truth is that they’re great for publishers as well (and literary agents and magazines and everyone else who runs a competition). Competitions allow all of us to discover new talent and to ask for work t...
Gardens can be one of the most important elements of our cultural history, and yet they are also some of the most fragile, susceptible to change, abandonment and destruction. This book traces the fascinating stories of Scotland’s gardens of the past, as well as the history of the nation which these landscapes reveal.
Images from Scotland’s Lost Gardens: From the Garden of Eden to the Stewart Palaces By Marilyn Brown Published by RCAHMS
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World-class Architectural Heritage That’s Hidden in Plain Sight
From the National Galleries of Scotland
Strawberry Éclairs with Elderflower Cream
Can’t quite make summertime in Paris? You can still enjoy a Parisian favourite.
Read an extract from acclaimed author Nicholas Hogg
Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award
Introducing New Writer Awardees Rachelle Atalla and Lindsay Macgregor
Read an extract from Estelle Maskame’s YA series
A few favourites from BFS
ALSO ON BOOKS FROM SCOTLAND
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Pink Camouflage by Gemma Morgan
‘I had to tell this story for the thousands of other women who have been harmed by the toxic culture …
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The Hollow Tree by Philip Miller
‘The man turned around. His hands were dark with blood.
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David Robinson Reviews: All Before Me by Esther Rutter
‘This then is a book about recovery, about regaining self-confidence and rediscovering joy.’
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QuickFire, Slow Burning by Janette Ayachi
‘Things are shed when people listen to poetry.’
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‘But best of all it is dead silent: no sound of greetin’ weans, no shouting staff, no screaming- dru …
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‘If readers enjoy what you’ve written, they’ll keep on coming back for more.’
FEATURED AUTHOR:
Francesco Cheynet
Francesco Cheynet was born and lives in Rome, Italy, where he is a primary school teacher. He approached the world of writing thanks to the participation in various competitions of short stories, with notable placements, and then moved on to write nov …
FEATURED PUBLISHER:
Curly Tale Books
Curly Tale Books was launched in May 2013 with the publication of author Alan Grant’s first story for young children The Quite Big Rock. We publish illustrated children’s books with a focus on Scotland and in particular the Belted Galloway breed of cat …