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"A warm hug of a book ... this seems as personal as any of Kay's poetry. And as full of love." The Herald The stunning debut picture book from Jackie Kay, one of the UK's foremost poets, rooted in familiar folk songs, and injected with gloriously lyrical old Scots. When Shona was a wee bit bairnHer daddy would sing Coorie Doon,Till she cooried doon and fell asleepUnder the huge eye o' the moon. Every night, Shona is tucked into bed by her loving parents, who sing her old and familiar folk songs: Tiree Love Song; Goodnight, Irene and Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go? And as Shona sleeps, we follow the people and places that drift into her dream world: her best "fiere", Ali, her dog, Marley, her cat, Flo... Then, years later, we meet Shona when she is sixty - actually sixty years old! - as she tucks her daddy, now an old man, into bed. And it is her turn to sing to him: "Coorie Doon, Coorie Doon, wee Daddy". Magnificently illustrated by Jill Calder, this is a truly original picture book that celebrates the small, perfect rituals of childhood and how they become a vital part of who we are. The book also includes a QR code to scan that will link through to a video from Jackie Kay and free audio recordings of songs from the book from legendary folk singers Peggy Seeger, Claire Brown and Suzanne Bonnar.
About the author
Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh. A poet, novelist and writer of short stories, she has enjoyed great acclaim for her work for both adults and children and her novel, Trumpet, won the Guardian Fiction Prize. From 2016-21 she was the third modern Makar, the National Poet for Scotland. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Salford.Jill Calder is an award-winning illustrator with a passion for colour, ink, paper and pixels. Since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1991, Jill’s work has taken her around the world, most recently to Pakistan and Sri Lanka with the British Council’s Drawing Words exhibition of British picture book illustrators, curated by the then Children’s Laureate, Lauren Child. Jill’s book illustrations include Robert the Bruce, King of Scots by James Robertson, What Is Poetry? by Michael Rosen and The Sea by Miranda Krestovnikoff. In 2022, Jill’s first retrospective exhibition, "A Blink of Ink … the Creative World of Jill Calder" was held at Callendar House in Scotland, giving a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of some of her biggest projects over the years. Her work has also been displayed at the V&A Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, the Royal Brompton Hospital and the Royal Scottish Academy.
