AN LGBT children’s book which is banned for sale in Russia has been translated into Scots and Gaelic in what publishers say is a first for the languages.
One of the Rainbow Books series by Lawrence Schimel and Elina Braslina’s, which caused controversy in Hungary and Russia due to featuring same-sex parents, is now being sold in both Scots and Scots Gaelic.
Published Tippermuir Books, based in Perth, have begun selling copies of Guid Morning!/Guid Nicht! (in Scots) or Madainn Mhath!/Oidhche Mhath! (in Gaelic).
The books each contain two stories, one set in the morning and one at night.
In Guid Morning!, or Madainn Mhath!, a young boy and his cat start having fun all by themselves after waking up before the mums of the house.
And in Guid Nicht!, or Oidhche Mhath!, a young girl and her dads try to rescue a teddy bear from a young puppy who won’t accept that it’s time for bed.
Tippermuir Books said it believed they were “the first LGBT+ children’s books ever produced in Scots and Scottish Gaelic and as such offer much-needed inclusive literature”.
My translator into Scottish Gaelic @Marcas_Mac got his copies today of my rainbow families children’s books illustrated by Elīna Braslina just published by @TippermuirBooks 😍😍🌈🌈 The first picture books in Gaelic depicting LGBT lives! Also available in Scots from Tippermuir! pic.twitter.com/fHNzrFv01F
— Lawrence Schimel (@lawrenceschimel) July 28, 2023
The Scots edition was translated by Matthew Mackie, while the Gaelic translation was completed by Marcas Mac an Tuairneir.
Mackie is a teacher and editor whose book The Tale o the Wee Mowdie that Wantit tae ken wha Keeched on his Heid was shortlisted for Scots Bairns Book of the Year in the 2019 Scots Language Awards.
Mac an Tuairneir is a prize-winning poet who writes in Gaelic and English. His debut collection, Deò, was published in 2013 by Grace Note Publications.
The Guid Morning!/Guid Nicht! stories were originally written in Spanish.
In 2021, a bookshop in Hungary was fined after selling the books without making clear that they featured a “family that is different than a normal family”.
At the time, Schimel wrote on Twitter that the Hungarian government was “trying to normalise hate and prejudice with these concerted attacks against books like mine … which represent for kids the plural and diverse world they live in.”
The books have been distributed in Russia by an LGBT charity, Sphere, in protest against Vladimir Putin’s laws banning “gay propaganda”. They are distributing the book for free – albeit with an “18+” tag – as selling it to minors would be illegal.
