Lari Don

Look at all these lovely books! (Mince pies and mulled wine too!) I'll be here, ready to sign books and chat to readers, from 11-11.30 tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Hope to see you there!)

This is where I'll be, this Saturday, at 11 til 1.1.30 am, surrounded by books and signing pens (and mince pies, apparently) #Edinburgh #signedbooks

YouTube video by FlorisBooks Lari Don tells the story of How to Escape a Waterhorse, from Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales

Storytime with author @laridonwriter.bsky.social featuring a tale from one of her wonderful @florisbooks.bsky.social collections youtu.be/wv6NhdtnPVk?...

Pop into these Edinburgh bookshops this Thursday to meet @laridonwriter.bsky.social and @elisecillustration.com!
Approx times:
9:30 @edinburghbookshop.bsky.social
10:00 Blackwell's South Bridge
10:30 Waterstones Edinburgh
11:00 @goldenharebooks.bsky.social
11:30 Ginger & Pickles

Wow, Philip Longson's illustrations are so beautiful and dramatic! But beware - Halloween is not a night to trust Fairy Queens, or any other beings in fancy dresses and cloaks!

Ooh look! I get to visit some of my favourite #bookshops and #booksellers! And meet the #illustrator whose work I’ve been admiring through many many edits! (And sign lots of shiny books for readers too…) @elisecillustration.com #Edinburgh #CelticTales #signedbooks

The top half of a tall silver birch, with leaves turning to yellow, against a bright blue sky. A couple of smaller greener trees to either side. At the bottom of the picture, the roof of a wooden shed. Slicing across the picture, at a gentle diagonal, a couple of telephone wires.

My favourite silver birch, turning to gold. (It’s the tallest tree I can see from my kitchen window, so keeps me connected to the seasons even when I can’t leave the house…) #autumn #Scotland

What are your favourite children's books for #SpookySeason? Head over to our blog to see some of ours, including a sneak peek at Jude Reid's debut (out March 2026!), plus favourites from @laridonwriter.bsky.social, Ross Mackenzie, @alexnye.bsky.social and more!
discoverkelpies.co.uk/2021/10/spoo...

Don't miss @laridonwriter.bsky.social guest post for @booksfromscotland.bsky.social - all about the fascinating connections between stories told in different places across the Celtic lands!
Read it here: booksfromscotland.com/2025/10/celt...
#CelticFolkAndFairyTales #CelticTales

Oooh! Maps and stories! Two of my favourite things!

a hardback book laid flat on a wooden table. The title of the book, in shiny green foil in the centre of the cover, is Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales, and two names at the bottom left are: Lari Don and Elise Carmichael. The cover art is a black horse with wild mane and sharp teeth leaping across the top, a seal wearing a pointy gold crown swimming at the bottom, and a wave of blue and white curving up the left side of the cover, linking them. There is a subtitle in smaller font reading: Magical Stories from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany

I’m excited about sharing this book (published today!) with you. It contains so many of my favourite things: untrustworthy fairies, battling dragons, shapeshifting magic & strong clever girls who defeat their own monsters. And amazing art by @elisecillustration.com #Celtictales #storytelling #kidlit

Happy book birthday to @laridonwriter.bsky.social and @elisecillustration.com - 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: youtu.be/wv6NhdtnPVk

A display of hardback books, four laid flat on a wooden table like tiles, and a pile of five placed on top, in a slightly teetering step fashion. The title of the book, in shiny green foil in the centre of the cover, is Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales, and two names at the bottom left are: Lari Don and Elise Carmichael. The cover art is a black horse with wild mane and sharp teeth leaping across the top, a seal wearing a pointy gold crown swimming at the bottom, and a wave of blue and white curving up the left side of the cover, linking them. There is a subtitle in smaller font reading: Magical Stories from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany.

Publication day! Time to send these beautiful beasties out into the world! Celtic Folk And Fairy Tales is now available wherever you like to get your selkie, dragon, shapeshifter, monster & changeling tales. The amazing artwork is by @elisecillustration.com #kidlit #celtictales #folklore #folktales

close up of a nettle plant from above, with neat pairs of mid green leaves. A new pair of leaves is growing in the centre - tiny, and brighter green

three docken leaves, the front one is smaller and still growing, becuase its sides are folded behind it, and it's shaped like a spearhead

green ivy leaves, with three newer paler smaller ivy leaves growing in middle. Yellow-brown tree leaf lying on top of ivy in bottom of picure

I have a fond admiration for plants which are still growing new green, while all the plants around them are turning gold #Edinburgh #cyclepath #determination

If you listen REALLY carefully, there are at least four different ways to escape a waterhorse in this tale. But if the waterhorse standing between you and the nearest way, that's when it gets really scary! #waterhorses #stronggirls #folktales

👉 Please watch Lives Interrupted to hear directly from young people living with Long Covid. Their voices, with their message, deserve to be heard.
(also on our YouTube)
vm.tiktok.com/ZNdnq5UmG/
#TikTok #CharityFilm #LivesInterrupted

YouTube video by FlorisBooks Lari Don tells the story of How to Escape a Waterhorse, from Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales

I love telling trad tales out loud! So @florisbooks.bsky.social created a video of me telling the first tale in our Celtic Folk And Fairy Tales collection. Here’s our 12 min 'How To Escape a Waterhorse' with magical artwork by @elisecillustration.com #storytelling
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv6N...

to be fair, it's mostly your artwork!

Graphic with John Swinney MSP speaking at a podium. Text reads: “No-one else will do a better job of caring for this beautiful country and the people who live here — and I mean all the people who live here.” Background is bright pink with SNP and Scottish flag logos at the bottom.

No one will care more for this country or its people than the SNP.

Scotland works best when everyone who lives here is included, valued and supported. #SNP25

bright red leaf, lying on paler leaves

rounded leaf, bright yellow with green veins, lying on earth and twigs

red and yellow leaf, hanging in front of ivy

bright yellow leaf, on a twig with a couple of pale green leaves; background of deep green ivy

enjoying autumn's colours, one leaf at a time #Edinburgh #cyclepath

The #KelpiesPrize for Writing and Illustration 2026 is NOW OPEN for entries!
We're looking for new writers and illustrators who live in Scotland and want to make a career in children's books. If that sounds like you, head to our website for full details!
discoverkelpies.co.uk/kelpies-priz...

Very true. Probably we should leave it alone more often!

It is a privilege to have a garden at all and one that feeds me, at the occasional nibble level, when I do very little to care for it, is a gift. (Though my neglect means the birds and the beasties and the squirrels have a friendly habitat...)

corner of a small white room, with printed A3 artwork stuck on walls, including cover image of a book called Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales, a map of the British Isles and Brittany, several illustrations including a selkie, 2 dragons, a herd of cows, and a water monster floating on a lake surrounded by mountains. Also visible are a hand-drawn picture of a market stall, a red and black poster for a book series called Spellchasers, and a black phone tripod

I've turned my writing shed into a studio so I can film wee clips about my new book Celtic Folk And Fairy Tales to share with you. I've even filmed a full-length telling of one Celtic tale! Doesn't @elisecillustration.com artwork look splendid on the walls? @discoverkelpies.bsky.social #storytelling

Aha! Lovely to see how Elise Carmichael created our very dramatic Welsh water monster, the Afanc! The early sketches are fascinating, showing how an illustrator uses scribbled words from the written description as part of their process…
#CelticFolkandFairyTales #kidlitart #watermonsters #Afanc

Heartwarming story

a dozen small shiny black brambles, in a bright green colander, on a spotty table cloth

Last of the brambles! We have a variety of berries in our unkempt garden (inc goosegogs, tayberries and these teeny tiny brambles) which all ripen at different times, giving me something to harvest and nibble from late June onwards. But we’ve now reached the end of the berries this year...

Balor is not a friendly-looking giant, is he? And the pulley to lift his drooping eyelid is a complex mix of physics and magic (which, to be fair, is one of my favourite story mixtures!) Very impressed that @elisecillustration.com and the folk at @florisbooks.bsky.social got it right! #kidlitart

Celtic Folk and Fairy Tales – DiscoverKelpies Shapeshifting selkies, cunning fairies, duelling dragons and bloodthirsty giants: discover stories of myth, magic and mischief retold for children by an award-winning Scottish author in this stunning ...

discoverkelpies.co.uk/books/tradit...

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No, I don't sell books on my website, but you can buy my books from my publishers (link below) or real bookshops or bookshop.org Thanks for asking!