Peter Cross and Peter Dallas-Smith, 1984
This is my all-time favorite children's book. It has everything a young reader would want in a book. There is friendship, action, science, military, great art, and a lot of humor. The plot, as described by the Library of Congress: "Just as the Trumpets, summer creatures who live in a world of warmth, prepare to hibernate, the Grumpets, winter creatures who live in the dark, frozen mountains of the north, prepare to take over the world."
There were so many reasons I re-read this books so many times. There was a game within it, where you had to try to find hidden Grumpet faces in the illustrations (think Waldo or Gold Bug.) Some of the pages were also set up like they came from a field guide where different parts of the picture had numbers which matched descriptions on the same page. Some of the pictures were full of action and I would spend a very long time trying to discern what each of the characters was doing in the image.
I grew up loving nature and this book fit in nicely with my interests. Sadly, this book is now out of print, and you are lucky to find a beat-up copy for less than $50.00. I think that I still have my US paperback reprint somewhere, but the hardback had an extra map of the land on the inside of the cover. I borrowed this book from the library so many times when we lived in Germany. Apparently there was a sequel titled Trumpets in Grumpetland. I have never even seen this book, but there are a few images to be found on the web. I still hold out hope that they will reprint Trouble for Trumpets someday so that an entire new generation can appreciate the fine work of the author and illustrator.
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