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About Ablekids Press

Opening hours of Market Brae Shop: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm


Ablekids Press was founded by Pauline Mackay in 2007 in Inverness, the Capital of the Scottish Highlands and we now have a shop on Market Brae Steps in the city centre. The aim of Ablekids Press has always been to encourage the wonderful talents of children, who, we believe, if given the right opportunities, are able to achieve amazing things! Our particular passion is language-learning and we are proud to say our first 'Wee MacNessie' story has been translated into 12 bilingual editions and our retelling of Aesop's fable, 'The Fox and the Grapes' offers bilingual versions in Turkish, Romanian and Malayalam, among other language options. This year, 2022, we are celebrating 'Wee MacNessie's' 10th anniversary.

Lockdown proved incredibly challenging so the 'Storyflower Project' was an unexpected ray of sunshine.  A personal mission by our founder to grow a beautiful giant sunflower, Peekaboo, for the children of a local family centre during the first lockdown of 2020, captured the hearts of all who heard about it and from there resources have been developed, and continue to be developed, to spread that joy and delight. 

Having begun as a self-publishing venture where all stories were written by Pauline then illustrated and translated by a variety of talented individuals, 2021 was a turning point for Ablekids Press as we took on board author and local historian, Norman Newton, for our new imprint, Wild About Inverness. Norman is the author of many books on Scotland and has an insatiable appetite for local history, so his collaboration on our City Centre Outdoor Trail was invaluable. We are now working on a second trail around Inverness which is scheduled for publication in 2023. Also in 2023, Ablekids Press will be launching its first traditionally published book written by a hugely talented local musician/author and illustrated by one of the Highlands' most popular artists.

We have also taken the decision to offer, via our physical shop in Inverness and online, a selection of Scottish Gaelic children's books from other publishing houses. Although we will not be selling these books on a trade basis to other retailers or wholesalers, we are happy to supply educational organisations.