Christine Orr (1899-1963) was a prolific novelist, poet, playwright and theatre-activist whose influence on Scottish cultural life in the first half of the 20th century is finally gaining recognition. Here, Susan Gardner, curator at the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh, introduces the creative and collaborative work of the young Christine …
Certain things stay with you. I have always been touched by this description which I came across a long time ago. It’s from a narrative of the life of Mary Magdalene — found in a late 14th century Scots collection of saints’ lives — and portrays a moment of child’s play. …
SELCIE is delighted to announce that a new publication – The Land of Story-Books: Scottish Children’s Literature in the Long Nineteenth Century, edited by Sarah Dunnigan and Shu-Fang Lai (Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2019) – will be launched on Friday 14th June at 5pm at Edinburgh University, kindly hosted …
In this post, Fiona McCulloch argues for the timeliness of critical engagement with children’s and young adult literature – and how it can help chart journeys into new ways of thinking… * You’re reading too much into it’… ‘it’s just a children’s story’ … ‘don’t ruin it for me’… …
There are many elements of the Museum of Childhood collections that reflect what was happening in the world at the time they were made – fashion can be followed in the costume collection, technology in toy manufacture and popular film stars in dolls and magazines. The book collection, however, offers …
One of the more interesting recent finds from the Edinburgh Museum of Childhood’s book store is, perhaps surprisingly, a school book – The Sixth English Reading Book (fig. 1). The book, which used to belong to Euphemia M. Millar, contains a timetable of various classes attended by the girl at …
The little red-haired girl who lives on the Hebridean island of Struay, always attired in her welly boots and Fair Isle jersey, is an icon of contemporary Scottish children’s literature. This, of course, is Katie Morag, the much loved creation of Mairi Hedderwick. SELCIE was therefore delighted at the news …
While working in the book archives of Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood, we sometimes find books that hold traces of their authors. This usually takes the form of an authorial inscription, as is the case with the charming Mr Barnacles and His Boat book that appeared in a previous blog post. It is …
Only four months away from the centenary of Muriel Spark’s birth, SELCIE celebrates her little-known children’s novel. Gerard Carruthers guides us through its thoughtful quirkiness, complete with illustrations by Edward Gorey… Less well-known than Muriel Spark, the writer of novels or the short-story writer, is Spark the poet, Spark the …
This post written by Dr Sìm Innes, Oilthigh Ghlaschu [English translation follows below] Is iomadh uair ri linn an Athbheothachaidh Cheiltich a chualas gun robh na Gàidheil, neo na h-Albannaich gu lèir, air dùsgadh, no an impis dùsgadh, air neo gun robh an t-àm aca dùsgadh. Thug Lachlann MacBheathain (1853-1931) …
