The Pumpkin book of Nursery Rhymes (1980, Pumpkin Press, illus. various)

 

The Pumpkin book of Nursery Rhymes. © Pumpkin Press London. 

Illustrations © Sandy Nightingale, Mary Cartwright, Kevin Maddison and Marilyn Day 

First published in Great Britain in 1980 by Pumpkin Press.

ISBN 0 906946 04 02 (for my edition, a 1982 reprint) 

I'd never come across Pumpkin Press before picking up this nursery rhyme collection at a book sale, and I couldn't find anything about them online, except in relation to this book. It's possible this nursery rhyme collection was Pumpkin Press's only book, which made me wonder if the publishing company was a joint endeavour of the four artists that illustrated the collection? I'd be happy to learn more, if anyone is the wiser. I did find that the book was reprinted in Adelaide, Australia, by Quality Press, another company I couldn't locate any information about.

The book is very simply formatted, with each double-page spread featuring an ivy-decorated scroll framing the text of the nursery rhyme, alongside an illustration over page. It has a handy contents page that outlines all the rhymes in the collection.

There was a solid contribution of familiar rhymes in the collection, but also some rare rhymes, such as 'What is the news of the day?', 'Dear, dear, what can the matter be?' ,'I know I have lost my train', 'In the greenhouse lives a wren', and 'There was an old crow'. I enjoy a collection that introduces me to new rhymes, and these were all quite fun ones. 

With four different artists we are treated to a range of styles for the illustrations to these nursery rhymes. I couldn't locate any hidden artist's markings (initials or the like) on any of the artworks, so it was amusing to try to figure out which illustrations belonged together by due of their style.

An illustration of 'Four and twenty tailors' which shows the format of the double-page spreads and showcases one of the finer artworks of the collection

The cover illustration attracted me to the book and remained my favourite illustration of the collection, but I also enjoyed the fresh greenery of the natural world in 'In the greenhouse lives a wren', the delicate lines and colours of 'Four and twenty tailors', and the happy hen and interested gentlemen of 'Hickety pickety my fine hen', among others. I've always thought the old woman who lived in a shoe seemed unnecessarily cruel, but the image in this book made it clear just how old and exhausted she is and how naughty the children (just look at those cheeky sneers!)

Illustration for 'There was an old woman'

There are many small details waiting to be enjoyed in the illustrations, including little Jerry Hall (dressed like a Victorian gentleman but perched on a windowsill), a startled moon, a lost lamb, a fine pumpkin house, a fiddling cat, and a madman dashing after a train. 

The Pumpkin book of Nursery Rhymes appears to be long out of print but it doesn't appear rare, with many copies available online. As to the illustrators:

• Sandy Nightingale has illustrated a number of books (including an earlier nursery rhyme collection published in 1978 by The Medici Society) and you can see her portfolio on her website, Night & Day. Based on her style, I think the Pumpkin Press cover picture is hers, as well as 'Molly, my sister, and I fell out', 'Little maid, pretty maid', and other pencil drawings throughout.
• Mary Cartwright (if I've got the right person) described herself as "an illustrator for a while (a pretty bad one)" in an interview in 2007. She became the art director of Usborne Publishing – see Creative Interviews.
• Kevin Maddison has illustrated several children's books and you can see his portfolio on his website.
• Marilyn Day (again, if I've got the right person!) is an artist born in Canada, briefly a Londoner, and now living in Tuscany. There's more about her on her website.