Trumpet Fever

Peter Cross's illustrations for Trouble for Trumpets developed over seven years before the book was published in 1982. It was followed in 1984 by a sequel, Trumpets in Grumpetland.

An ideal present for all vintages of personhood ... The illustrations combine fantasy, technical draftmanship and nature-study in a most unusual way. The Guardian

It is not often such originality appears in the children's book world. British Book News

Pictorially this book is a triumph. Country Life

A unique vision, set out in mesmerizing detail against the lush English countryside. Sarah Newell, New York Times

Peter Cross will surely become the next cult illustrator ... His pictures are alive with colour and whimsical detail, technically brilliant and full of fun. Jenny Woolf, Punch

Peter Cross has indeed become something of a cult illustrator. However, while Trumpets received critical acclaim, it was always a bit too eccentric to be a popular success, as Cross relates in this interview:

In retrospect some of my old stuff makes me cringe but I wanted to put down on paper or translate my interest in natural history and create a world peopled by funny creatures and to show the love I have of painting which gives me a tremendous thrill being able to transfer onto paper some beautiful object. So, in the Trumpets I was able to create this world which had nothing to do with children even though it was labelled a children's book. It was an excuse really; I'm the child! [laughter] and I was doing it for myself. It never really took off and one can see why now but at the time and after all that work it was a bit disillusioning.

Cross followed up Trumpets with other series of picture books before finding an apparently more comfortable niche with his Harbottle Hamster greeting cards, which he continues to create. Cross still uses pen, ink and watercolour and his work is an excellent example of the beauty of pre-digital illustration. You can view and buy some of his current work at this gallery. Meanwhile, first-edition hardbacks of Trumpets are selling for hundreds of dollars on sites like Alibris and Abebooks.