I don’t think Julia Donaldson can go wrong! In addition to the hugely popular Gruffalo books, she has a prolific output of rhyming picture books for children. Room on the Broom is probably Julia Donaldson’s best-loved picture book after The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child. Following the huge success of these two titles in their Scots language versions, Room on the Broom, translated into Scots by James Robertson, is going to be another.
This is a happy partnership as the tale loses none of its cadence, as the witch and her cat fly across Scotland, dropping things. When first a dog helps her to find her hat and is given a lift, then a bird helps her find her ribbon, then a frog helps her find her wand, the frog’s extra weight is enough to snap the broom. As they fall to the ground, it is the animals’ turn to save the witch.
All ends happily, of course, in  ‘what goes around comes around’ fashion.
The language is broad and I confess I didn’t know every word, but this is how children learn new words, by the context, and so I find it great fun. And parents of children who have the original English version will of course be able to refer back when in doubt!
