This website, fronted by renowned British author Anne Fine, provides the most gorgeous range of bookmarks for children to keep their place in their bedtime story, as well as an extensive range of bookplates. They are all designed by well-known book illustrators and it’s just as well you can print then out individually as it would be impossible to have to make a single choice from among them!
One bookplate that immediately appealed to us, though, if I have to state a preference, is Mairi Hedderwick’s as we love her Katie Morag books. Katie is a feisty wee heroine, and enough of a tomboy to appeal to boys too. The illustrations bring the fictional Scottish island of Struay to life and the stories themselves make you laugh aloud, whether it’s Grannie Island using Grannie Mainland’s best shampoo to wash her prize sheep in Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers; or the Big Boy Cousins being terrified by the ghosts of Castle McColl in The Second Katie Morag Storybook. Struay is based on the real-life Hebridean Isle of Coll: these lovely stories conjure up the very special way of life there, both through the narrative and the illustration, and are richly rewarding when read aloud.