Some of our titles!
Who can believe we are celebrating four years as Foggie Toddle Books!
Starting a new business just as the Pandemic struck and we went into lockdown was probably not what most experts would advise and to be honest I wondered if I’d ever really get started. I’m known for not really planning things but this was a ridiculous situation to be in. I’d been running the children’s bookshop (and a small publishing company) in Wigtown, Scotland’s National Booktown for five years when the situation changed and I took over the shop on my own while my former business partner kept the publishing. Thankfully, despite the challenging circumstances, this proved to be a very positive move for me. Grant aid helped to keep the rent and overheads paid until I could reopen the doors in the summer of 2020. But during lockdown I initiated a new postcard design for Wigtown by Pauline Paterson, wrote a book about The Wrecking of the Orion, approached (by email) Donna Brewster about republishing her book The House that Sugar Built and wrote a new children’s story about Belted Galloways called Betty’s New Best Friend, and commissioned graphic designer Caroline Smith to do the illustrations! Phew!
So when we opened the door as Foggie Toddle Books we (that’s me and my great team) hit the ground running. Betty was a hit and that book has been followed by The Castle Cat, working again with Alasdair Hutton and William Gorman, The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede based on the song by Matt McGinn with artwork by Fran Raw, a reissue of Walter’s Wonky Web by Lorraine Johnson, and Shona the Vet by Catherine Stables. We have twice been awarded a Scots Language Grant by the Scottish Book Trust which has enabled me to work again with Susi Briggs – who is currently the Scots Scriever with the National Library of Scotland – to publish her books Wheesht, with William Gorman, and Yum with Charlotte Brayley. Both Betty and The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede have gone into a second print run which is just amazing.
We are currently working on the second in what has become a series of Shona the Vet stories and Shona the Vet: City Wildlife Rescue will be launched at the end of this month. This follows on from working with Future-Vets Scotland who sent a copy of the first book to every primary school in Scotland in the hope of encouraging children to consider a career as a vet. This initiative was sponsored by the three main Scottish veterinary colleges in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Hot on the heels of the second Shona story is a new picture book which is already attracting a lot of attention – The Highland Cowgirl. Author Louisa MacDougall and illustrator Sarah Lovell approached Foggie Toddle Books last year with the project. It’s a really charming story with super cute pictures and it will be ready by the end of May. Louisa is based on Harris and Sarah is in British Columbia on Canada’s west coast.
And that’s not all. Over the past four years we’ve also worked with Des Dillon and Helen Moss to produce an amazing volume of poetry, and last autumn we finally republished The House that Sugar Built by Donna Brewster. That first postcard design by Pauline Paterson has now become a series of images along with mugs, magnets, tea towels, prints and even soap! They feature Wigtown, Port William, the Isle of Whithorn, Portpatrick, Whithorn, Kirkcudbright, Gatehouse of Fleet, Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart and Garlieston.
And thanks to Lou, Magghi and Isabelle I’m also still running a thriving children’s bookshop in Wigtown. All in all it’s been quite a four years!