Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales: Magical Stories of Dragons, Fairies and Selkies from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and more retold by Lari Don ill. Elise Carmichael

ACHUKA Book of the Day 17 Oct 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

A splendid new anthology of Celtic folktales fromScottish publisher, Floris Books

Travel to the magical Celtic lands to meet shapeshifting selkies, duelling dragons, a terrifying waterhorse, a cheeky changeling, a cunning fairy and a bloodthirsty giant…

In this sumptuously illustrated new collection, award-winning Scottish author and storyteller Lari Don retells classic tales of myth, magic and mischief.

Elise Carmichael’s exciting and luminous illustrations bring the rich shared folklore of the Celtic lands—Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany—to life in an outstanding collection that will enchant younger and older readers alike.

Lari Don is an award-winning Scottish children’s author and storyteller. She is the author of more than 30 books for children of all ages, including the folktale retellings Dragon’s Hoard, Breaking the Spell and Girls, Goddesses and Giants, as well as picture books based on traditional tales such as The Secret of the Kelpie and The Treasure of the Loch Ness Monster. She lives in Edinburgh.

Elise Carmichael is an illustrator and graphic designer with a passion for children’s literature. She studied Art and Design at Towson University, Maryland, USA and has a Masters in Publishing from Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. When she isn’t drawing, Elise enjoys hiking, photography and learning new languages. She also lives in Edinburgh.

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A post shared by Elise C (@elisecillustration)

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A post shared by Lari Don (@laridonwriter)

Happy book birthday to @LariDonWriter and Elise Carmichael – the stunning Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales is out today!
We highly recommend you watch this fantastic video of Lari telling her version of the Manx waterhorse tale: https://t.co/BqJNDmMqak pic.twitter.com/5NGUhmdvJY

— DiscoverKelpies (@DiscoverKelpies) October 16, 2025

"Balor was huge, twice the size of any other giant. He had one eye much bigger than the other, with a massive heavy dropping eyelid pierced by an ivory ring, linked by ropes to ten more rings in his bristly eyebrow…"@LariDonWriter #EliseCarmichaelhttps://t.co/dtaXqiV6Z9 pic.twitter.com/JMV51koTnw

— DiscoverKelpies (@DiscoverKelpies) October 2, 2025