Walker Books buys Jackie Kay's 'heartwarming' first picture book

Walker Books has snapped up rights to Jackie Kay and Jill Calder’s "heartwarming" Scottish lullaby story, Coorie Doon.

Senior commissioning editor Tanya Rosie acquired world rights to the text from Sarah Chalfant at the Wylie Agency, and illustrations from Lindsey Fraser at Fraser Ross Associates. The book will be published on 2nd January 2025, in time for Burns Night.

"‘Coorie doon’ means ’snuggle down’ in Scots, and this lyrical tale follows a little girl called Shona who, every night, is tucked into bed by her loving parents, who sing her familiar folk songs", the synopsis says. "As Shona sleeps, readers follow the people and places that drift into her dream world: her best ‘fiere’ Ali, her dog Marley, her cat Flo... Then, years later, when Shona is 60, she tucks her daddy, now an old man, into bed. And it is her turn to sing to him: ‘Coorie doon, coorie doon, wee Daddy’."

According to the publisher, the text was inspired by Kay’s relationship with her adoptive parents. "Injected with gloriously lyrical Scots and, under the art direction of Sadia Chowdhury, magnificently brought to life by Jill Calder’s dreamy illustrations, this is an original picture book rooted in folk songs."

As a special addition, the book includes a QR code that will link to Kay discussing the book, and features audio recordings of songs from the story sung by Peggy Seeger, Claire Brown and Suzanne Bonnar.

“It’s a first for me – a picture book," Kay said. "It’s been so magical. To have Jill Calder bring my characters and story to life in such a truthful and beautiful way has been transforming."

Calder added: “Jackie’s story brought back visceral memories of my childhood and family life in Dundee and I’ve tapped into them to bring Shona’s world to life, from tangled cassette tapes, through fairy woods to owl teapots!”

Rosie commented: “Jackie Kay wrote that a short story should ‘glow because of its intensity’. As an editor, that line has always stayed with me because it’s unmistakably true of picture books, too. It was no surprise, then, when Jackie Kay delivered her very first picture book manuscript to Walker – melodic, tender and deeply emotional, it glowed like a full moon on a pitch-dark night."