Out of the Ordinary: Kelpies imprint from Floris Books
Kelpies is an imprint from Floris Books, which originates in Scotland but is now selling directly to the U.S. library market. Their slogan is “Scottish books for children everywhere,” and they have divided their books into age groups: Wee Kelpies for babies and toddlers, Picture Kelpies for ages 3-6, Young Kelpies for 6-8, Kelpies for 8-12, and KelpiesEdge for readers 12 and up.
ACL has started to receive books from Kelpies to be reviewed, so look for those in your BayViews beginning this summer. I read one that had trading cards to tear 
out of the back, so it is probably not useful to most libraries. Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Raging Raiders by David MacPhail is a funny chapter book for third graders, that features a young Viking boy who is neat, clean, studious, and very unlike his older brothers. Filled with grayscale cartoon art every few pages, I appreciated that they didn’t “Americanize” the language.
If you believe your library audience would appreciate books from Scotland, check out the Kelpies website: http://discoverkelpies.co.uk/ .
Penny Peck, San Jose State University iSchool
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