A new legend emerges

With so much folklore surrounding Loch Ness, its monster, and its most celebrated castle, one could suppose that there was little call for another re-telling of those stories, but The Treasure of the Loch Ness Monster, by children’s author Lari Don, offers something different.

The picture book, bewitchingly illustrated by Nataša Ilinčić, has the feel of a classic, but is a new story, weaving together two of the oldest Great Glen legends, and completely re-imagining them, crucially, with children at their heart.

Ishbel and Kenneth are hungry local children, who set out for Urquhart castle in the hope of discovering the treasure rumoured to be beneath it. Along the way they encounter magic, grave danger, and Loch Ness’s most famous resident. It is an eventful adventure, which remains loyal to its roots and striking setting.

Due for publication in March, this story will sit happily alongside Speed Bonnie Boat and the The Secret of the Kelpie, in Picture Kelpies’ Traditional Scottish Tales collection, a selection of picture books which are refreshing our folklore, and enabling its magic to enchant the newest of readers.

The Treasure of the Loch Ness Monster, by Lari Don and Nataša Ilinčić (Picture Kelpies)