The magic of how a winter wonderland is created will be revealed in a new children’s picture book.
Nip Nebs is the Scots name for Jack Frost and the beautiful new title from Wigtown’s Curly Tale Books follows this mythical character as he weaves his magic on a winter morning.
The enchanting tale has been created by storyteller Susi Briggs from Gatehouse of Fleet working together with her friend artist and illustrator Ruthie Redden.
Susi said:”We’ve been working on the book for a few years and we were so excited when we were approached by the Curly Tale team who wanted to publish it.”
The lovingly created images feature wonderful things to find on each page including small animals and tiny fairies.
Ian McIntyre, president of the Robert Burns World Federation, said: “Nip Nebs is the perfect platform to introduce our young children into our rich and descriptive language. The words and Ruthie Redden’s wonderful illustrations provide an ideal foundation to stimulate, educate and entertain the young enquiring mind.”
Susi was inspired to write her story in Scots to encourage others to celebrate and use the Scots language. She drew on childhood memories of Jack Frost and of her father Stewart warning her to keep her socks on or “Nip Nebs will prinkle yer taes!” A love of Scots was instilled at a young age when Susi attended Lincluden Primary School, Dumfries. The headteacher, Wilson Ogilvie, encouraged the use of Scots every day and not just for special occasions such as St Andrew’s Day or Burns Night. Susi felt that one way to encourage the use and the awareness of the lesser used Scots words was to bring it to children by creating enchanting picture books and using the words lyrically and imaginatively.
Susi, who is the founder of The Wee Folk Storytellers, Music Matters and a registered storyteller with the Scottish Storytelling Centre, said: “Scots is a wonderfully descriptive language and many of the words speak for themselves without much translation. Words like ‘crumshie’ to describe the crunchy sound of snow as you step on it and ‘glisk’ which describes a sparkling shine.”
Curly Tale director Jayne Baldwin said: “We are thrilled to be able to publish this really beautiful book. Although it’s in Scots the work is very accessible and includes an English translation, anyone who loves language will delight in this book.”
The book ‘Nip Nebs’ will be available from early December but it can be pre ordered from www.curlytalebooks.co.uk at a special introductory price.
