Fidra Books is a publisher based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

specializing in reissues of bygone children's books, mainly those from the 1940s onwards.

Foundation and range

The firm was set up in 2005 by Malcolm and Vanessa Robertson, who also opened

's one dedicated Children's Bookshop in November 2007, and in 2010 a general bookshop in the same street. Fidra Books specializes in reprinting children's books that it believes to be wrongly neglected.Fidra books (n.d.) ''Fidra Books - Publishers of Classic Children's Literature.'' Retrieved 7 October 2021, http://www.fidrabooks.com/publishing/index.shtml.
/ref> Fidra Books enables collectors to acquire books they have been searching for and for new readers to find these older stories. Its books range from 1930s adventure stories to 1960s fantasy novels.

Publishing

The firm's first publication was

Margot Pardoe Margot Pardoe (8 August 1902 – 5 January 1996) was a British writer of children's fiction under the name M. Pardoe. Her career spanned over 20 years from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. She is known best for the Bunkle adventure series. Pa ...

's ''The Far Island'' in 1936.Pardoe biography.
/ref> Its other output has covered

pony book Pony books, pony stories or pony fiction form a genre in children's literature of stories featuring children, teenagers, ponies and horses, and the learning of equestrian skills, especially at a pony club or riding school. Development of genre Th ...

s by authors such as K. M. Peyton and Josephine Pullein-Thompson and titles in classic genres such as adventure and school stories. Other Fidra Books authors have included Olivia FitzRoy, Anne Digby, Victoria Walker,

Primrose Cumming Primrose Cumming (1915–2004) was a British writer of children's books. Her writing career spanned over 30 years, and produced some fine examples of the pony book genre, combining accurate observation of human and equine with a certain wry hu ...

, Elinor Lyon,Reissued titles described.
/ref> Mabel Esther Allan, and

Ruby Ferguson Ruby Constance Annie Ferguson, née Ashby (28 July 1899 – 11 November 1966), was an English writer of popular fiction, including children's literature, romances and mysteries as R. C. Ashby and Ruby Fergunson. She is best known today for her ...

. These books have reappeared as larger-format paperbacks with thick paper and stiff card covers. Fidra Books uses in its reprints elements of the original dust wrapper; all contain a forward.

References

External links

Fidra Books WebsiteFidra Book List Goodreads
Book publishing companies of Scotland Publishing companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Edinburgh Pony books Elinor Lyon {{Scotland-corp-stub