Thistle Street

Mike Nicholson is the author of children's novels Catscape and Grimm (both Floris Books). He won the Kelpies Prize for new Scottish children's fiction in 2005. Mike lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thistle Street is his first picture book. Claire Keay is an artist and illustrator based in Essex in England. Claire has illustrated two previous children's books: I Love You All Year Long (Tiger Tales) and My ABC of Bible Verses (Make Believe Ideas). She also illustrates greeting cards and sells her paintings worldwide.

'Thistle Street' sells itself as a "braw Scots story for bairns". And so it is!... The book creates a warm sense of a bustling community with its friendly words and dynamic pictures.'-- The Scotsman'What's lovely about this is that the language introduces fantastic Scots words like stushie and clarty and crabbit ... the value of having a book that celebrates these wonderful words is something special and the simple drawings are easy to follow.'-- Lothian Life'This funny story, told in bright rhyming verse, is full of the lively characters who work and live on the street ... Packed with details to spot on each page, the warm illustrations will draw children into the friendly neighbourhood of Thistle Street.' -- MADE: Mums and Dads Edinburgh'What a terrific way to learn a few strange sounding Scottish terms! It is like learning a whole new language.'--Early Years Educator'A great book which gives a real flavour of Scotland and its culture.'-- Creative Steps'A charming, funny and traditional story with gentle watercolour illustrations bringing the text to life and providing plenty of detail to spot, this is a story which also introduces the concept of new words through dialect. Intelligent and clever, fun and lively: a charming book.'-- The School Librarian