Alasdair’s book sets sail for Wigtown

Alasdair’s latest tale follows the adventures of a hungry kitten who latches on to a couple of soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland in the hope of picking up scraps of food, ending up at Edinburgh Castle.

Alasdair told The Southern: “I hope that this will help younger children to read with a simple story set in a place they can recognise.”

Alasdair, who has written and narrated the world-famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo for 30 years, has written another couple of little stories about the adventures of the Castle Cat, and if this book is a success, he hopes the others will follow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The book features beautiful illustrations by Wigtown artist William Gorman who first worked with Alasdair on a book about Dandie Dinmont terriers called Mustard and Pepper, who lived with Sir Walter Scott’s family at Abbotsford.

Publisher and bookseller Jayne Baldwin, who runs the children’s bookshop in Wigtown, said: “When I read Alasdair’s Tattoo Fox books I realised there was a story to be told about the Castle Cat and commissioned him to create what I hope will be a series.

"As a fan of the work of William Gorman I was delighted when he came on board as the illustrator.”

The 24-page picture book, published by Wigtown-based Foggy Toddle Books is now available, priced £7.99 from independent bookshops or directly from www.foggietoddlebooks.co.uk