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 of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 ...

s by authors such as

K. M. Peyton Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton (born 2 August 1929), who writes primarily as K. M. Peyton, is a British author of fiction for children and young adults. She has written more than fifty novels including the much loved " Flambards" series of storie ...

and

Josephine Pullein-Thompson Josephine Mary Wedderburn Pullein-Thompson MBE (3 April 1924 – 19 June 2014), sometimes known as Josephine Mann, was a British writer known for her pony books. She was a leading member of the Pony Club and PEN International. Her mother and two ...

and titles in classic genres such as adventure and school stories. Other Fidra Books authors have included

Olivia FitzRoy Olivia Gwyneth Zoe FitzRoy, (May 27, 1921 – December 24, 1969) was a British author of children's books. She was the granddaughter of Muriel FitzRoy, 1st Viscountess Daventry, raised to the peerage as widow of Edward FitzRoy, the Speaker of the ...

Anne Digby Anne Digby (born 5 May 1943 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey) is a prolific British children's writer best known for the Trebizon series published between 1978 and 1994. Digby attended North London Collegiate School before becoming a magazin ...

Victoria Walker Victoria Clayton, née Walker, (born 1947) is a British author. She began writing at her parents' house in Cambridgeshire (after a couple of years living a bohemian lifestyle in London). When dining one night in London she sat next to Bill McCread ...

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 hum ...

Elinor Lyon Elinor Bruce Lyon (17 August 1921 – 28 May 2008) was an English children's author from a Scottish family background. Several of her novels are set on the Highland coast, others in Wales. They have been seen to feature "strong girls and sensitiv ...

,Reissued titles described.
/ref>

Mabel Esther Allan Mabel Esther Allan (11 February 1915 – 14 May 1998) was a British author of about 170 children's books. Biography Mabel Esther Allan was born at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, then in Cheshire (now Merseyside). She decided to be ...

, 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