Books in Young Kelpies series

Hamish and Mirren live in a quiet farmhouse by a beautiful loch in Scotland. Quiet, that is, except for the talking sea urchin, singing sand, hungry fairies, sad bogle and grumpy witch! This delightful collection of stories is a true Scottish children's classic. Moira Miller's characteristic wit and humor shine through, and Mairi Hedderwick's funny, charming illustrations bring gentle Hamish and his canny wife wonderfully to life for younger readers.

Why doesn’t anyone want the mixter-maxter kitten? The little striped cat is on a journey―sent from the farm to the city and passed from owner to owner. No one seems to love him just as he is. Finally, he moves into the tall house in Edinburgh and finds his name―Mac― and life gets more interesting. He makes friends with two musical ladies next door and discovers he likes Bach, as well as cat treats. He has many adventures as he explores. Then, just when he begins to feel settled, unsettling things start to happen. Will he ever find someone to love him for always? (Ages 6–8)

It is the time of the Cold War. Soviet spies are feared, and secrets are traded. People disappear. Thirteen-year-old Alasdair, living in London, knows nothing of this world. He can't wait to start his long summer holiday on the Isle of Skye, away from his mother and aunt. But things don't go quite as planned. On the journey, a stranger gives him a mysterious note before jumping from the train. Worse still, he instantly mistrusts sinister Murdo Beaton, with whom he's staying. Gradually adjusting to crofting life, Alasdair is not prepared for the web of danger and espionage that unfolds around him. Can he trust anyone?

Reema runs to remember the life she left behind in Syria.Caylin runs to find what she's lost. Under the gray Glasgow skies, twelve-year-old refugee Reema is struggling to find her place in a new country, with a new language and without her brother. But she isn't the only one feeling lost. Her Glasgwegian neighbor Caylin is lonely and lashing out. When they discover an injured fox and her cubs hiding on their estate, the girls form a wary friendship. And they are more alike than they could have imagined: they both love to run. As Reema and Caylin learn to believe again, in themselves and in others, they find friendship, freedom and the discovery that home isn't a place, it's the people you love. Heartfelt and full of hope, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is an uplifting story about the power of friendship and belonging. Inspired by her work with young asylum seekers, debut novelist Victoria Williamson's stunning story of displacement and discovery will speak to anyone who has ever asked 'where do I belong?'

Tom Stokes is an orphan. His sister is going to America to get married―but where can he go? They remember an uncle and aunt they scarcely know living in the borders of Scotland. After the city bustle of London, Tom finds his uncle's farm barren and lonely. How can he adjust to such a life? Help comes in the form of a sheepdog puppy, and his loneliness is quickly forgotten as Tom realizes the dog is his to love and train―maybe to be a champion! And so begins his adventurous and challenging life on the hill farm with his new friend Elspeth and sheepdog Flash. Then his sister writes that Tom can come and live with her in America, and he is faced with the most difficult decision of his life... (Ages 6-9)

'Stories are something you carry with you, something to last your entire life, to be passed on to your children, and their children for evermore.'Duncan Williamson Duncan Williamson came from a family of Traveling People, who told stories around the campfire for entertainment and for teaching. As a child, Duncan learnt the ways of the world through stories: 'My father's knowledge told us how to live in this world as natural human beings -- not to be greedy, not to be foolish, not to be daft or selfish -- by stories.' In this collection, he passes on some of these wonderful children's folk and fairy tales. For over sixty years Duncan traveled around Scotland -- on foot, then in a horse and cart, and later an old van -- collecting tales, which not only come from the Traveling People but from the crofters, farmers and shepherds he met along the way. This collection includes tales about cunning foxes and storytelling cats, hunchbacked ogres and beautiful unicorns, helpful broonies and mysterious fairies, rich kings and fearsome warriors, as well as those about ordinary folk trying to make their way in the world. The stories have been written down as faithfully as possible to Duncan's unique storytelling voice, full of color, humor and life.

Adam and his Shetland pony Haki have been inseparable. Haki is clever and brave and Adam soon trains him to do things other Shetland ponies can't -- to act, to dance and to follow the sound of Adam's bagpipes. But Adam must move off the island to find work and selling Haki is the only way he can leave. Then the pair performs at the Highland Show and a ringmaster is so impressed by the talented pony that he lets Haki, and Adam, join his traveling circus. Haki -- with Sondra the friendly elephant -- become stars of the big tent but some of the circus folk are jealous of their success. Can Adam protect his friend? This classic children's novel from much-loved author Kathleen Fidler takes the reader on an entertaining journey -- from a small Scottish crofting community to the bright lights of the circus. Fidler's authentic and charming depiction of life on Shetland remain, to this day, an unrivalled portrait of Scotland's islands.

One day, Will and Lucy's dad just ... vanishes. They have no idea why he's disappeared until a creepy stranger reveals their dad was keeping a BIG secret. Then there's the second clue: an old diary they find hidden in the walls of their Royal Mile house, with a sinister black dagger on it. Will and Lucy must solve a mystery that's over two hundred years old if they want to find their dad and bring him home. But can they find the answers in time to rescue him? Award-winning author Joan Lingard weaves a fast-paced mystery set in and around Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The story alternates between Will and Lucy, searching for their dad in the present day, and their ancestors William and Louisa, struggling to save their own father while following the sign of the black dagger and uncovering a plot to kill a French aristocrat.

'Stories are something you carry with you, something to last your entire life, to be passed on to your children, and their children for evermore.'Duncan Williamson Duncan Williamson, one of Scotland's Traveling People, has been celebrated as the bearer of Scotland's greatest national treasure: the richest trove of story and song in Europe. In this collection, he passes on some of these wonderful children's folk and fairy tales, collected from sixty years of traveling around Scotland. This collection includes stories about silver horses and golden birds, cunning lions and trilling nightingales, brave princesses and magic scarecrows, the four seasons and old Father Time. At the heart of each story is a lesson about life and what it means to be a good person. The stories have been written down as faithfully as possible to Duncan's unique storytelling voice, full of color, humor and life.

Winner of a 2015 Scottish Children's Book Award Why did the chicken cross the road? TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!! The city of Aberdeen is being terrorized by giant robot chickens who want to peck out every last sign of human resistance. The streets are empty, the adults have vanished -- and those left behind are fighting for survival. Jesse and his friends are desperate to save their families and stop the feathered fiends. They hatch a master plan... but can a gang of kids REALLY defeat an army of angry robot chickens? A hilarious, weird and wonderful adventure from a cracking new author.

“Mrs. Hog had already noticed that the fourth baby was the last to do everything. He seemed to be smaller than the rest, but what worried her more than anything was that he had no spines.” Hoglet is a problem hedgehog! With no prickles to defend himself, he needs to overcome his lack of spines and find somewhere safe and warm to hibernate for the winter. Hoglet is a small hedgehog with a big attitude, but will he survive the worsening weather and other wild creatures of the woods? A heartwarming tale, set in the Scottish countryside, of one little hedgehog’s attempts to conquer adversity with politeness―and a certain amount of luck! This delightful and charmingly illustrated book will appeal to young and old alike. (Ages 6–10)

"Are you brave?" When the mysterious Amelia Pigeon turns up at Kirby's bedroom window in the dead of night, this is the question she asks him -- right before they tumble into a world of ancient malevolent spirits who have torn their way into Kirby's quiet seaside village. Kirby isn't feeling brave at all. His mother is in a coma following a freak (or was it?) accident, and he's hardly talking to his dad. He's convinced a spider is spying on him, and now a weird girl in a yellow raincoat -- who claims to be a powerful, evil-banishing Shadowsmith -- is dragging him into unknown danger. How brave is he really? Ross MacKenzie, author of award-winning The Nowhere Emporium, weaves a world of magic and adventure which twists and turns magnificently, and keeps thrilled young readers guessing right to the end.