'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' to be translated into Scots

Itchy Coo, the Scots language imprint for children at Black & White Publishing, is translating Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid into Scots.

The first book in Kinney’s bestselling series was translated by Scots writer and poet Thomas Clark after Campbell Brown, m.d. Of Black & White Publishing, acquired Scots language rights from Abrams Books NY.

Translated as Diary o a Wimpy Wean, the book will be published at the end of this month.

Kinney has written 12 books in the Wimpy Kid series and global sales have exceeded 200 million, according to Black & White, which has previously translated Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone into Scots.

Extract from Diary o a Wimpy Wean:

Richt, afore ye say onythin: this is a JOURNAL, aye? No a diary. I ken fine whit it says on the front. But when ma Maw went doon the shops I SPECIALLY telt her tae get yin that didnae say “diary” on it.

The ither thing I want tae get oot the road straicht aff the bat is that this wis ma MAW’s idea, no mine.

But she’s no richt in the heid if she thinks I’m aboot tae stairt writin awa aboot ma “feelins” or ony o that guff. Sae if ye’re waitin on me giein it aw “Dear Diary” this and “Dear Diary” that, ye can awa and run.

The anely reason I’m gaun alang wi this at aw is that, wan day, when I’m pure mintit and famous, I’ll hiv better things tae dae than staun aboot answerin fowk’s stupit questions aw day lang. Sae this book is gonnae be wirth its wecht in gowd.

In the UK the English language editions of Diary of a Wimpy Kid are published by Penguin Random House Children’s.

A Scots version of J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Itchy Coo last year.