Foo did Doric Books came aboot? 

Fin Aaron Gale (author/illustrator) an Jackie Ross (storyteller) got igither their imaginations gaed wild!  They stairtit tae dream braw dreams.  Widn't it be gran iv mair stories wir telt in Doric sae folk cud enjoy readin an hearin thir mither tongue mair aften?  Fit wid it be like tae hae puckles o pictur buiks written in Doric aat mithers an faithers, grunnies an grandas cud read tae e bairns?  E mair they thocht aboot it e mair they winnert 'Fit's stoppin us?'

Sae Doric Books wis born! 

Ower time, we aim tae publish aa kin o Doric material for folk o aa ages.  We wint tae be pairt o a warld far Scots is fully kent as a language.  A warld far Doric, as a dialect o Scots, is vailyed an enjoyed in hames, skweels an communities across e Nor-East o Scotland an ayont.  A warld aat vailyes local cultural identity an diversity. 

Iss laist howp is affa important tae us.  We ken aat there are different wyes o spellin an spikkin Doric an puckles o places hae thir ain wirdies for things.  Sae ye micht fin aat oor buiks hae different wirds an spellins for e same English wird cause iss diversity is something we'd like tae hing on til.

We wint tae encourage folk tae eese Doric far ivver they can.  Sae, we set Doric Books up as a Community Interest Company (CIC).  Iss means aat we exist tae benefit e Doric spikkin community.  We'll dee iss bi publishin buiks in Doric an bi haudin Doric wirkshops an events in skweels, care hames an ither community settins.  We wint folk tae hae e chunce tae eese oor mither tongue ony place they ging.

 

How did Doric Books come into being?

When Aaron Gale (author/illustrator) and Jackie Ross (storyteller) got together their imaginations went wild!  They started to dream beautiful dreams.  Wouldn't it be great if more stories were told in Doric so people could enjoy reading and hearing their mother tongue more often?  What would it be like to have several picture books written in Doric that mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers could read to their children? The more they thought about it the more they wondered 'What's stopping us?'

So Doric Books was born! 

Over time, we aim to publish all kinds of Doric material for people of all ages. We want to be part of a world where Scots is fully recognised as a language.  A world where Doric, as a dialect of Scots, is valued and enjoyed in homes, schools and communities across the North-East of Scotland and beyond.  A world that values local cultural identity and diversity.

This last hope is very important to us.  We know that there are different ways of spelling and speaking Doric and several places have their own words for things.  So, you might find that our books have different words and spellings for the same English word because this diversity is something we'd like to hold on to.

We want to encourage people to use Doric wherever they can.  So, we set Doric Books up as a Community Interest Company (CIC).  This means that we exist to benefit the Doric speaking community.  We'll do this by publishing books in Doric and by holding Doric workshops and events in schools, care homes and other community settings.  We want people to have the chance to use our mother tongue in any setting.