The Kelpies series of books comes from the largest children’s book publisher in Scotland, Floris. They have a significant range of books for children, including board and picture books, story books for 6-10 year olds and the popular Kelpies series for 8-12 year olds. They encourage  new writers through the Kelpies Award, which filled the gap when the Kathleen Fidler Award was dropped. What is, to Scottish readers, even more commendable, is their commitment to providing books with a Scottish theme and this autumn we are introduced to Cameron the Capercaillie – who can’t dance.
Now as everyone from the Plaza ballroom in Glasgow to the forest floor in the Cairngorms knows, dancing is an important part of mating, so Cameron is in big trouble. But fortunately for him, he meets a sympathetic squirrel, Hazel, who offers to teach him to dance in exchange for help in finding her lost nuts.
So the pair go on a journey through the forest, where Cameron has to negotiate several obstacles, learning in the process a degree of dexterity and a number of ‘moves’ which he is then able to employ on the dance floor. As Cameron discovers there is no such word as ‘can’t’ he learns to believe in himself and make the most of his abilities.
It’s a lovely story, written by Emily Dodd, the former Scottish Book Trust Reader in Residence at Leith Library, and illustrated by Katie Pamment, who herself now lives in the Cairngorms National Park.
