With its soft, atmospheric illustrations of the countryside and comforting messages around finding confidence and overcoming fears, this sweet picture book is accompanied by a very special extra - a real piece of tartan kilt is tucked into a page near the end, a soft fragment of fabric that will “make the scare go away”.
So, what of the story? Scotch is a “sad and lonely scarecrow” who wears a tartan kilt in place of trousers, on account of him having no legs. Scotch’s life takes a brighter turn when a messenger rabbit brings news that he’s been chosen to be a Scare-go. As the rabbit explains, this means that rather than chasing crows away, his job is to help scared children. On his very first mission, Scotch finds his feet (literally) when he helps a little girl. The story is short, but sweet, and the larger-than-usual size of both the physical book and text makes it suitable to read aloud and share with little ones.
Scotch is a friendly scarecrow who is chosen to be a Scare-go. In this role he helps to chase children's scares away. Importantly, he's not a super hero who 'fixes' problems, but instead he encourages children to have the confidence to face up to their anxieties and find a solution for themselves. This is the first in a series of adventures that feature Scotch and his sidekick rabbit Hop.
Neil Dickinson is a medical writer and father of four, who has spent his career writing for doctors, patients and healthcare professionals. A few years ago he was asked to write a children’s picture book to help parents who were faced with giving regular home injections to their infants and toddlers. The book's success gave him a taste for writing children’s stories. Scotch the Scare-go is his first character creation, and further Scotch adventures are already in the pipeline. You can visit Neil’s website at https://www.scotchbooks.com/, and follow Scotch’s adventures at @scotch_the_scare_go on Instagram, @scotch.publishing on Facebook and @GoScotch on Twitter.
