• Illustrating the Tomtes with Brenda Tyler

    by  • 21 April 2014 • 0 Comments

    Earlier in the year, the Floris office was treated to a very special visit from Brenda Tyler, author-illustrator of our beautiful Hilltop picture book series. Brenda popped in to work with our design team on illustrations for her new Hilltop book, The Tomtes of Hilltop Stream, and we were lucky enough to catch her...

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    A tribute to Wain Farrants

    by  • 16 April 2014 • 0 Comments

    We were sorry to learn of the recent death of bookshop manager and long-time Floris Books friend and supporter Wain Farrants. Wain studied psychology and mathematics at the University of Toronto and ran the bookshop at Camphill Botton Village in Yorkshire, England for many years until his death in January 2014. As well as...

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    Kelpies Design & Illustration Prize Winner Announced

    by  • 15 March 2014 • 0 Comments

    We are very excited to announce that Edinburgh-based illustrator Astrid Jaekel is the winner of the inaugural Kelpies Design & Illustration Prize! We made the announcement at an award ceremony last night at Edinburgh’s Gallery Seventeen, where we will also be showcasing the ten shortlisted entries this weekend. Astrid’s design for the cover of...

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    Helpful tips for sharing wordless picture books

    by  • 10 February 2014 • 0 Comments

    Rain or Shine cover

    (From the Scottish Book Trust) 1. Describe what you see Describing the pictures encourages us to use language that is different from how we normally speak. This will expose children to a rich variety of language. 2. Point things out Take your time and point things out in the pictures. Pointing and labelling helps children to...

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    What is a Tomte?

    by  • 27 January 2014 • 0 Comments

    Tomtes of Hilltop Stream cover

    The tomte (or nisse in Norway and Denmark) is a creature from Scandinavian myth. Tomtes are generally thought to be small, bearded men who wear brightly coloured caps, although there are many regional variations to the story. They are rarely seen by humans so it is very difficult to obtain an accurate description! Traditionally,...

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    The Sky at Night: enjoying naked-eye astronomy

    by  • 8 January 2014 • 0 Comments

    Have you been watching the latest series of BBC Stargazing Live with Professor Brian Cox? Inspired to discover the night skies but not sure where to start? Luckily we here at Floris Books love all things astronomy, so we’ve put together our very own guide to spotting constellations from your back garden. Here’s our...

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