Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Turning house music into homes: The James Hype special edition is out!
BUY magazine
Books

Top 5 Scottish books for bairns, chosen by author and translator Ashley Douglas 

Our pick of the kids' books out there for proud Scots – and everybody else

From The Lass and the Quine by Ashley Douglas. Illustration: Kate Osmond

From traditional tales to modern stories, these Scottish stories – chosen by multilingual historian, translator and author Ashley Douglas – will inspire children… and entertain adults too.

Maisie Comes to Morningside by Aileen Paterson 

The adventures of Maisie, the gallus kilted kitten, have brought joy to many. This was the book where Maisie’s adventures began, published in 1984.

The Itchy Coo Book o Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales in Scots by Elaine C Smith, Val McDermid and others

A host of weel-kent Scottish writers tell nine of the Danish author’s best-loved fairy tales in Scots, from The High Heid Yin’s New Claes to The Wee Sea Quine

Read more:

The Tale o the Wee Mowdie that wantit tae ken wha keeched on his heid by Matthew Mackie

The whimsical tale of a crabbit wee mole on a quest to find out who has ruined his day is translated directly and deftly from the original German into a rich, modern Scots. 

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Dame Lynley Stuart  Dodd

An honorary entry on this list, because the star of this charming rhyming tale about a bunch of canine pals by New Zealand’s Dame Lynley Stuart is, of course, the titular Scottish terrier, Hairy Maclary (best said in a Scottish accent!).

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Diary o a Wimpy Wean by Thomas Clark

For slightly older bairns, this is a hilarious and heartwarming transformation of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid into pitch-perfect everyday modern Scots. 

The Lass and The Quine by Ashley Douglas, illustrated by Kate Osmond, is out now (Tippermuir Books, £8.99). Some of these titles are available to buy or preorder from the Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support the Big Issue and independent bookshops.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more

It’s helping people with disabilities. 

It’s creating safer living conditions for renters.

Big Issue brings you trustworthy journalism that drives real change. 

If this article gave you something to think about, help us keep doing this work from £5 a month.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
The Man on the Endless Stair by Chris Barkley review – mind-bending revelations
Books

The Man on the Endless Stair by Chris Barkley review – mind-bending revelations

Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler review – speculative fiction with an emotional core
Books

Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler review – speculative fiction with an emotional core

The extraordinary story of Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to hold a pilot's licence
History

The extraordinary story of Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to hold a pilot's licence

Small Rain by Garth Greenwell review – mortal reflections from a hospital bed
Books

Small Rain by Garth Greenwell review – mortal reflections from a hospital bed

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know