Children’s book with ‘fantastic’ insight into history of Forres now on sale

A children’s book that celebrates the historical landmarks of Forres has gone on sale in shops around town, and our own website.

Fantastic Forres was written by local musician Ewen Watson, and illustrated by his girlfriend Sathya Schlosser, and the result is a beautiful book that also shows off Forres as the historical town that it is.

Ewen teaches children with special needs and also plays in a local band Be Like Pablo. He said he has always been fascinated by the history of the town.

“I loved history at school. My dad would often explain the background of some of the buildings as we walked around Forres, and I also worked in the Tourist Information Centre.”

“The idea for the book came about during lockdown. Sathya is a freelance children’s book illustrator from Germany and we met when she was working on a music video for Be Like Pablo.”

Sathya added: “I love Forres, and I’ve enjoyed touring the town with Ewen and looking at all the buildings in detail. I’ve tried to capture the spirit of the building rather than technical accuracy, and suits the style of a children’s book.

Fantastic Forres was officially launched at the Highland Games last Saturday (8 July) and they sold around 200 copies.

From this week, the book will also be available online from Visit Forres’s online bookshop and shops in the town.

“We’ve got some stock in The Bike Bothy, Keepsakes, Forres Coffee House, Chimes, Nelson’s Tower and The Pantry, and of course through our own website fantasticforres.com

Ewen and Sathya will be at Keepsakes on Saturday 15 July to sign copies.

Ewen and Sathya pictured with Keepsakes owner Ray Macdonald. The pair will ‘take over’ the shop at 20 High Street on 15 July for the day when they be signing books.

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