we are delighted to be able to invite you to join us for an evening with Neil Gaiman at the Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh on the 28th October at 7pm to celebrate the launch of The Graveyard Book.  Neil will be reading from the book and talking about it and his other writing, followed by a Question and Answer session. Finally, Neil will be available to sign copies of The Graveyard Book.

Tickets are £5 with £5 off The Graveyard Book on the night and are available from The Children’s Bookshop; call into the shop or phone to reserve if you want to book by post.

It’s nearly Hallowe’en, so why not come in fancy dress - there might even be a prize for the person who looks as though they’ve made the most effort!

Preview of Chapter 1 of Pamela Hull and Katharine Whitlock’s The Far Distant Oxus added to website.

Obituaries for Elinor Lyon have been writen in The Times, The Independent, The Guardian,  The Telegraph, and The Scotsman.

Simon Bartram, author and illustrator of the hugely popular Man on the Moon, Watch Out For Sprouts and Dougal’s Deep Sea Diary, will be joining us at The Children’s Bookshop.  Simon will read from Man on the Moon, followed by the new sequel, Bob’s Best Ever Friend.  Simon’s books will be available for purchase and signing.

We have recieved some very sad news - Elinor Lyon passed away yesterday morning following a massive stroke.  She was very dear to everyone at Fidra Books and shall be greatly missed.  She was one of the first authors to take a chance on a new publishing company, and always seemed flattered and slightly amazed that she still had such a loyal and devoted following of fans and admirers after all these years. Vanessa has written some more thoughts about Elinor over on the blog.

We are going to be holding a weekly story telling session, every Tuesday, beginning on the first Tuesday in June. Please bring your child along to hear some old favourites and discover some new ones! Ideal for the under-5s!

We have added a Katharine Hull and Pamela Whitlock author page to the website, where you can read the story of schoolgirls getting togther to write a book, a biography of both Katharine and Pamela, and bibliography of their books.

Preview of Chapter 1 of Sheila Stuart’s Alison and the Witch’s Cave added to website.

We’re delighted to be able to announce that we will be reprinting Hazel Peel’s books. The first book will be Easter the Showjumper, one of the Leysham Stud series, at Easter 2009, with the original text and new covers. You can read a biography of Hazel, and bibliography of her horse adventures, on her author page.

Anne Digby’s Fifth Year Friendships at Trebizon has been delivered to fidrabooks and can now be ordered from our online shop, The Children’s Bookshop, or from one of our stockists.