One of my earliest books (published twenty years ago, in 1990) was this optimistic parable aimed at introducing children to opera through the tantrums of a stage-struck nightingale. In fact the book sold reasonably well and secured several co-editions, including a Finnish edition. I was so delighted I sent it to my childhood inspiration, Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson, legendary creator of the Moomins. Astonishingly, she replied and put Moomin stamps on the envelope!
Madame Nightingale shows the influence illustrators who worked in the 1960s. there are shade of Brian Wildsmith, John Burningham and Gerald Rose (who taught me at Maidstone College of Art). I had yet to find my own voice.
The story tells of a band of woodland creatures who discover a discarded toy theatre and decide to stage an opera with the Nightingale as the star. But disaster strikes when, just days before the premiere, the diva gets stage fright and loses her voice. All sorts of personal things crept into the illustrations. The wrecked car is a reminder of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the gramophone is modelled on one from my own collection. The landscapes have a hint of Samuel Palmer about them, and – like Palmer’s bucolic scenes of harvesting – are taken from the Kentish countryside where I had lived for three years whilst studying.
To accompany me on promotional trips I even made an elaborate cardboard toy theatre, with a mouse audience. When the curtain rises it reveals a diva-like Madame nightingale in mid-aria.
I remember one particular event when I manfully carried this theatre, a (portable) antique gramophone and a priceless 78 rpm record of a real nightingale singing to the accompaiment of Beatrice Harrison’s ‘Cello, all the way to Blackpool Zoo. A children’s book event was hosted there, and as the weather was set fair it was held outside. Unfortunately a pair of male peacocks decided to display their tails mid-way through my storytelling, and I paled by comparison. I later had the further indignity of being chosen from an audience to be attacked by a sword-wielding magician. Those were the days.
Madame Nightingale is now out of print and long forgotten. I can’t imagine many children discovered opera as a result of her little adventure. But I had fun with the book, and was an important stepping stone in my development.
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