Foggie Toddle Books of Wigtown, a much-valued supporter of Kirkcudbright Book Week, has published two new children’s books.
Picture book Shona the Vet City Wildlife Rescue takes to the air for a second adventure filled with fun and facts for early readers. Shona, and her dog Jock, are the creation of working vet Catherine Stables who realised her long-held secret ambition to be a children’s writer and illustrator with her first picture book Shona the Vet: A Coast to Coast Adventure.
City Wildlife Rescue follows Shona and her dog as they fly to help a confused otter at the Falkirk Wheel, an urban fox in distress at Glasgow’s harbourside, a peregrine falcon with a sore eye at Edinburgh Castle and sooty owl in Inverness.
Catherine, who hails from Lochaber but now lives in Moray, said: “I am passionate about engaging children to think about wildlife and how we can support it. Raising awareness of our animals, their habitats and environmental issues they might face, are important concepts to introduce at a young age.”
In her working life Catherine doesn’t need a helicopter as she’s a small animals vet with the Keith-based Seafield Veterinary Group. She started telling stories for her two sons when they were younger, and the idea of Shona and her adventures developed from these bedtime tales.
The first Shona the Vet story was spotted by Future-vets Scotland, who gained funding from the three veterinary colleges to send a copy into every primary school in the country in the hope of inspiring a new generation of children to consider a career in the science.
Owner of Foggie Toddle Books, Jayne Baldwin, said: “It’s been a privilege to be the publisher of a book chosen to be sent to every primary school in Scotland and now I’m so excited to see the new adventure winging its way across the country.”
Shona the Vet: City Wildlife Rescue is available to order from bookshops or online price £6.99.
The second new title is a picture book aimed at encouraging girls to follow their dreams has been created by three women who have done just that.
The Highland Cowgirl is a charming new book for wee ones created by author Louisa MacDougall together with illustrator Sarah Lovell and published by Foggie Toddle Books.
The story features Hanna who lives in the west end of a big city but who dreams of being a cowgirl in the Wild West. Until she can somehow make that happen, she practices her rodeo skills with the help of her mum and dad. But then one day her class goes on a school trip to a farm and Hanna hopes she’ll be able to put her skills into action.
Author, mother of three Louisa MacDougall, spent years submitting manuscripts and she’d been shortlisted for prestigious writing awards on several occasions, but a publishing contract still eluded her until last year.
She said: “Little Hanna’s journey is a bit like my own. I’ve put in lots of time and effort, and I have had to be a bit flexible about exact goals, but I feel like my dreams finally are coming true this summer. Like Hanna, being part of a strong team (for me, that’s with Sarah and Jayne) is what made the difference in the end.”
The Searchlight Writing for Children Awards, which aims to champion new writers and illustrators, brought Louisa, who lives on Scotland’s remote Hebridean island of Harris, together with Sarah Lovell who is based in British Columbia in the west of Canada.
Sarah said: “Being part of the journey of The Highland Cowgirl has been amazing, I’m so pleased Louisa and I connected, and it has led to Jayne and Foggie Toddle publishing this wonderful story.”
Jayne Baldwin said: “I just loved The Highland Cowgirl. The story spoke to me as someone who had spent my early childhood dreaming of being an international showjumper – but then quickly moved on to wanting to be involved in writing and publishing. I’m so delighted to have played a part in making Lousia and Sarah’s dreams come true.”
The full colour 36-page picture book is available, price £8.99, from the end of May 2024 in bookshops or directly from Foggie Toddle Books at www.foggietoddlebooks.co.uk
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