Collection
Three sessions across the autumn—an introductory storytime at Hope Cottage, a mid-project session, and a final celebration at Tills. Families are invited to share a favourite home-language story over the course of the term.
Project log · 2026–27
Stories of our Lives.
A storytelling and publishing project working with the 2026–2027 intake at Hope Cottage Nursery—collecting family stories from home languages, translating a selection into English, and producing illustrated printed zines.
Led by Tills Bookshop. Supported by the Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant. In partnership with Hope Cottage Nursery, In Other Words, Liz Rowland, and Typewronger Press CIC.
01 About the project
Family stories, brought into print.
15–20Children, ages 3 to 5
16Home languages spoken
3–4Stories to print as zines
5Months, August to December
Tills Bookshop has been awarded a 2026 Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant to deliver Stories of Our Lives, a storytelling and publishing project with Hope Cottage Nursery in Edinburgh. The project works with the nursery’s 2026–2027 intake—around 15 to 20 children aged 3 to 5—to collect short family stories in their home languages, translate a selection into English, and produce printed zines illustrated by Edinburgh artist Liz Rowland and printed by Typewronger Press CIC.
Over half of the children at Hope Cottage Nursery speak English as an additional language, with 16 languages represented across the setting, including Indonesian, Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Italian and Spanish. Stories of Our Lives starts from the stories families already know and tell at home, and works with children and families to bring them into print.
02 Aims
What the project aims to do.
- Treat multilingualism as a creative resource, not a barrier.
- Connect children’s home-language storytelling to English-language reading.
- Give families a finished, physical publication to keep.
- Build a lasting multilingual resource for the nursery beyond the funded period.
03 How it works
The project runs in three stages.
From collection to translation to print—with families involved at every stage.
Translation
Three to four stories are selected with Hope Cottage staff. Translations into English are commissioned and quality-assured by In Other Words, a literary translation programme run within Cultural Commons CIC.
Stories are illustrated by Liz Rowland, designed, typeset, and printed as a short run of zines by Typewronger Press CIC. Every child at the nursery receives a copy of each title. A set stays at Hope Cottage for future cohorts.
04 Timeline
The project runs over six months.
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August 2026
Project launch and first storytelling session at Hope Cottage.
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September 2026
Story collection and selection; translation commissioned.
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October 2026
Mid-project session; illustration and text development.
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November 2026
Design, typesetting, and printing.
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December 2026
Celebration event at Tills Bookshop; zines distributed.— the books are in hands.
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January 2027
Reporting and evaluation.
05 Partners
The project brings together seven partners.
Lead applicant
Tills Bookshop
An independent bookshop in Edinburgh, one of the city’s oldest, with a dedicated children’s section, a stock of new books in translation, and a regular events programme. Public-facing brand for the project.
Delivery partner
Hope Cottage Nursery
An Edinburgh council nursery serving a culturally and linguistically diverse community.
Coordinator
Cultural Commons CIC
An Edinburgh-based Community Interest Company developing public-facing cultural projects across literary translation, community reading, and photography.
Translation
In Other Words
A literary translation programme and professional network run within Cultural Commons CIC, by Kate McNamara, Claudia Marzollo, and Georgia Katakou.
IllustratorLiz Rowland
An Edinburgh-based literary illustrator producing artwork for three to four selected stories.
Print supplier
Typewronger Press CIC
Producing the short-run zine print from their beautiful press in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh.
Funder
Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant
The Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant supports independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland to deliver projects that bring children and young people to reading.
Visit the grant