THE CATS Of Catterness, a new children’s book for five to eight-year-olds by Alice Elder from Stonehaven, was launched in Catterline, yesterday.

The story tells of a community of cats who have to deal with an unexpected threat to their pleasant existence in a fictional fishing village based on Catterline.

The local primary school was therefore an obvious choice for the book launch at which the author gave a reading and illustrator Jim MacDonald showed how he created the artwork that accompanies the text.

Head teacher Jan Bradford said, “We were delighted that Alice chose our school for the launch and the children were very excited about her visit.

“We are particularly pleased that if Catterline is mentioned when buying the book, £1 from the sale will go to school funds. The pupils themselves will have an opportunity to be involved in this process as they will be selling the book from their stall at Catterline Gala on June 14.”

Alice Elder, an octogenarian, is also a published poet.

She draws heavily on the north-east for her inspiration.