The Orkney Gruffalo’s Bairn: The Gruffalo’s Child in Orkney Scots

The Gruffalo said ‘Noo, listen tae me – Nivver go oot in that cowld, snowy trees!’ But wan snowy night the Gruffalo’s Bairn ignores whit her fither has tellt her an tiptoes oot intae the cowld. Eftir aal, there’s no such thing as the Muckle Mad Moose …is there? In 2015, following on from the huge success of James Robertson’s Scots translation of The Gruffalo, Itchy Coo published four dialect versions: the Orkney, Shetland, Doric and Dundee Gruffalos have all proved immensely popular as celebrations of the Scots language’s astonishing regional diversity. Simon Hall’s Orkney version of The Gruffalo is now followed by The Orkney Gruffalo’s Bairn. A cautionary tale about what happens when a small Gruffalo leaves the comfort of its cave and sets off into the dark wood on a wintry night, this is sure to be another big hit in Orkney and with Orcadian speakers wherever they bide.