Scottish history books for children: favourite series and authors

This series of short historical biographies can usually be found quite inexpensively second hand. They are similar to Ladybird history books, intended for younger readers with plenty of pictures. The language is generally straightforward. I am aware of the following titles:

• The Story of Saint Columba
• I Fought at Bannockburn
• The Story of William Wallace
• The Story of Robert the Bruce
• The Story of Mary, Queen of Scots
• The Story of Rob Roy
• The Story of Bonnie Prince Charlie
• Young Robert Burns
• Children of the Clearances
• David Livingstone
• Greyfriars Bobby
• The Story of Scotland’s Flag and the Lion and Thistle

This series by Allan Burnett is pitched slightly older than the Corbie bios, but still very accessible. The books are in a Horrible Histories style with lots of cartoons. They will appeal to lots of children who enjoy funny and sometimes slightly gory stories. For all that, they include plenty of historical fact. I am aware of the following titles:

• The Celts and All That
• The Vikings and All That
• Columba and All That
• Macbeth and All That
• William Wallace and All That
• Robert the Bruce and All That
• Mary, Queen of Scotts and All That
• Bonnie Prince Charlie and All That
• Robert Burns and All That

These information books are stylistically similar to a DK Eyewitness book, with each double page spread covering a different theme, and plenty of pictures and diagrams. They are clearly well researched, and there is a lot of historical content in these books. I personally wouldn’t give them to a child and expect them to read through the whole thing independently. I find them useful for reference, and we might read a few pages together at a sitting. They do cover lots of themes in Scottish history which are not well covered elsewhere. I am aware of the following titles:

• The Romans in Scotland
• Scotland’s Vikings
• Wallace and Bruce
• Mary, Queen of Scots
• Scottish Kings and Queens
• The Covenanters
• The Clans
• The Jacobites
• Scottish Explorers
• Greyfriars Bobby: A Tale of Victorian Edinburgh

I came across Scottish Castles through History in a charity shop and have found it a very useful book, with plenty of illustrations and examples of the development of castle design specifically in Scotland. I have since realised that it is part of a larger series of books produced by BBC Education Scotland in the 1990s. A number of these books are available to borrow virtually at www.archive.org. I am aware of the following titles in existence:

• The Romans in Scotland (Richard Dargie)
• The Vikings in Scotland (Richard Dargie)
• Scottish Castles through History (Richard Dargie)
• Bruce’s Scotland (Mari Spankie)
• The Union of 1707 (Iain Rose)
• The Highland Clearances (Donald Gunn and Mari Spankie)
• Children of Coal and Iron (Iain Rose and Donald MacLean)
• Scotland in World War II (Richard Dargie)

Barbara Henderson writes historical fiction for children on Scottish themes. Her books are wonderful, my children really enjoy them. They are exciting adventure stories with lots of historical information in the mix. Henderson’s books span a long period of Scottish history, from the Vikings through medieval times, the Jacobites, and even the construction of the Forth Rail Bridge.

The Scottish publishing house Floris Books has an imprint called Kelpies, which publishes Scottish themed books for children. They have a number of history books, and also publish Kathleen Fidler’s historical fiction. We have their picture book for Mary, Queen of Scots (Escape from the Castle) and there are a couple of others in the same series (William Wallace, Robert the Bruce).