Jousting With Jesters

Letter References

A page - Armadillo, Apples, Ants, Angel, Axe, Antlers, Ankle. (Anxious Dennis)

B page – Beaver, Bear, Badger, Bee, Ball, Butterfly, Barrel, Bag, Book, Basket, Beard, Bread, Branch, Belt, Buckle, Berries. (And the Bad Guy, extreme right.)

C page – Chipmunk, Clock, Clown, Crow, Cows, Cats, Chicks, Chicken, Clarinet, Cymbals, Candy, Comet, Cape, Clouds, Church.

D page – Deer, Dolls, Door, Donkey, Drum, Dancing Dogs, Dalmation Dog, Ducks (Indian Running), Diamond Design.

E page – Emu, Elephant, Eggs, Eaglet, Ear rings, Envelope, Ears, Eyes, Elbows.

F page – Fox, Frog, Farm, Field, Family, Fish, Flower.

G page – Giraffe, Gargoyles, Grandfather clock, Guitar, Gloves, Goat, mother Goose, Grass, Green.

H page – Hen, Hippo, Hare, Heron, Humpty Dumpty, Hat, Hole, Hedgehogs, bee Hives, Haystacks, Harvest, House, Hay.

I page – Ivy, Iguana, Ice cream.

J page – Jaguar, Jewel box, Jack’o’lantern, blue Jay, grey Jay, stellar Jay, Jigsaw pieces, Jar, Jug, Juggler, Jack-in-the-box, Javelin, knee Joint, Jaw.

K page – Kid, Koala bear, Kingfisher, Kestrel, Kite, King, Kitten, Knife, Keys.

L page – Little, Little Leopard, Lapwing, Lark, Lambs, Leaves, Ladybird, Lizard, Lollypop, Lute, Logs, Lamp, Ladder, Literature, Leg.

M page – Moose, Mask, Moon, Mouse, Mirror, Mug, Mushrooms, Mole, zodiac signs on robe: Mercury and Mars, Male sign, Million (ten to the power of six)

N page – Newfoundland dog, Noddy, Nuthatch, Newt, Net, Newspaper, Nails, Nest.

O page – Otter, Oriole, Owl, Opossum, Origami, Oast house, Orange (the color), Oak tree.

P page – Porcupine, Parrot, Partridge, Pears, Pair of Puppies, Pan Pipes, Petal, Poppy, Paint brush, Paint Pot, Palette, Puppet, Post, Pointing, Painting a Portrait, Pony, Pigeon, Parade, Pennants, Puddle. (Note that Dennis’s wings Pop out on the P Page!)

Q page – Quilt, Quartet, Quintet of Quails Quotation marks, Question mark.

R page – Rabbit, Rooster, Robin (British), Robin (Canadian) Rats, Rope, Red.

S page – Skunk, Sparrow, Spider, Saluting Scarecrow made of Straw, Seahorse, Sign, Sarah’s Sweets, Sock, Stars, Sun, Salmon, Sheep, Shells, Swan, Seagull, Squirrel, Snail, Snake.

T page – Tiger, Teddy bear, Trumpet, Turkey, Toad, Teapot, Toes, Tree, Trunk, Turrets, Three on horseback.

U page – Unicycle, Upside-down Umbrella, Ukulele, looking Up.

V page – Violin, Vampire bat, Vereo, Vulture, Valentine.

W page – Waving Witch, Waving Wizard, Warbler, Wrist Watch, Words.

X page – saXophone, aXe,

Y page – Yak, Yawn, Yellowthroat (common) ,Yo Yo.

Z page – Zodiac signs on magician’s robe: Aries, Cancer, Capricorn, Leo, Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, Scorpio, Taurus.

Notes on the Borders and Other Elements

The borders contain references that are not in the medieval context, and also reflect the same time of day as the main illustration. A good bird book might come in handy for identifying the birds that are throughout Jousting. The Roger Tory Peterson and National Geographic guides are great, I used these. As a child, I spent many happy hours “spotting” birds on the Romney Marshes in Kent.

I researched costume and architecture, arms and armor and made sketches of the English countryside. So the book is based on solid authentic visual reference.

Notes on Dennis the Dragon

Dennis is a Fruit Eating Dragon, and like all Dragons he is born without a flame and must go on The Dragon’s Quest for Flame, the ancient Dragon rite of passage to the Vermillion Volcano. When he finds his flame he will be able to talk to other Dragons, get the job he wants and find his place in the wider world.

Fruit Eating Dragons grow very quickly. They become adolescents in just six months, and stay that way for two hundred years. That’s why some Dragons have a naughty reputation. Dennis has reached this stage on the endpaper at the back of the book. I hope he stays calm for the next two hundred years!

Notes on the Creation of Jousting With Jesters

For some time now I had wanted to create my very own book. I have been lucky enough to illustrate some wonderful stories by terrific authors ( see my website for a full bibliography ) but I wanted to do something that I can only describe as “silly”—to create a character filled with a positive spirit, who would amuse and delight readers young and old, and I wished to return to the rolling green landscape of my own childhood in south-east England, the county of Kent. On the sign post on the half title page are written the names of three villages I knew well when I was growing up: Appledore, Brenzett and Cranbrook. They seemed a good alphabetical fit, ABC, and a good start for our little dragon’s journey. On a trip to England two years ago, I made all kinds of discoveries that helped me create the world in which Jousting with Jesters is set.

On the endpapers is a landscape that combines Wales and Kent, although I don’t think there are any volcanoes, vermillion or otherwise, in either place. I discovered the wrought-iron designs set in on the door on the title page in a beautiful parish church in Surrey, and the knight and his lady in the title box with pups at their feet is an echo of the medieval tomb design so well known throughout Europe. Normally, of course, the knight would have a hunting dog at his feet and the lady a lap dog, but this a fantasy.

On the D page we have a pair of operatic ducks. While on a walk near Hungarton, a village in Leicestershire, my brother-in-law and I came across a gaggle of these ducks, their heads in the air all quacking in a low murmuring fashion; as we approached them they ran off towards a low fence. One ducked underneath, now truly alarmed and “singing” at the top of its lungs. The rest stopped and surveyed us with beady-eyed nonchalance, necks still stretched skyward. I was greatly amused by their odd posture and the way they ran about as a group. I knew I had to have Indian Running Ducks on the D page.

On the H page I feature a horse sitting while helping Dennis with his “homework.” I was convinced that I had seen a horse sit somewhere, and I was determined to find evidence of it as I loved the scene depicting Dennis and his helpful pal. Eventually I came across a website from Russia showing a photo of a horse sitting having tea with several people. It looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland with a checked tablecloth and a huge tea pot.

On the M page I have covered the Magician’s robe in signs of the zodiac, rather than the usual stars and moon motif.

The architectural details I came across in churches, castles and medieval towns like Rye and Chester were inspiring as well. In a church near Bournemouth, I spotted the faces that I placed at the bottom of each archway on the Q page. They were a much smaller detail than in my picture, and usually very odd images like a frog or small dog, with an occasional human visage. Most people think that churches in medieval times always had the unadorned gray stone look that they have now, but in fact every surface was painted in bright colors. One can still see this even in a great cathedral like Canterbury: in the crypt there we came across small areas of bright paint at the top of many of the columns, a lovely and unexpected find.

On the R page I have a cobbled street with typically medieval buildings “leaning” in to get a good look at the scene. This picture was in part inspired by the old town of Rye in Sussex. We strolled around the town, and I was enchanted by it in a very different way than when I used to visit it as a child. I am now aware of the passing of time and the character this gives to a place. As a youngster I always felt these types of houses had “faces:” the one to the far right in the picture does look as though it is “shouting” at the Rotten Robber.

The Inn sign, The King Robbie, is a small homage to the memory of my dear friend Robbie King. Robbie had a great sense of the absurd and surely the Rotten Robber’s costume is truly that. The costume is based on an authentic medieval design that I came across in a wonderful reference book called Medieval Costume and Fashion, by Herbert Norris. It’s a kind of classic in its field, going into astonishing detail on how the costumes were made, why fashions changed during the period, which influences came in from the East after the crusades and the edicts put out by the church on the kind of veils women should wear. If women had to wear them, then they were going to use bright silks rather than plain linen etc. Fashion has been with us forever.

On the S page I had fun with signs and the visual playfulness of the period. While in Oxford I came across a lot of odd gargoyles, one of which is on the G page, and in one instance a gold-and-black painted Satyr over an inn door. I regret not finding a place for him on the S page. The Sarah’s Sweets sign is a nod to my friend Caitlin Sweet’s sister.

On the T page, the alert student will notice that we have moved into the fall, as the leaves have changed color. From here on my little imps proved useful in the borders. Rather than just having a dull image of a trumpet, I was able to have one of these little guys play the instrument as I did with the violin on the V page and the saxophone on the X page. I also used many birds as letter references.

On the Z page, many of the characters featured earlier in the book reappear, even the bad guy, if you can find him! As we are now in winter I was able to indulge in my love of wintry trees, I always loved the silhouettes that trees made in the winter months in England, and it’s still something I love to look no matter where I am.

A Note on the Dedication

The book is dedicated to Pauline Baynes, the illustrator of the Narnia books by CS Lewis and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, specifically “Farmer Giles of Ham”, “Smith of Wooten Major” and “ The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.” Pauline’s career has spanned fifty years. She has a new book out this year (2006), called Questionable Creatures. She is eighty-four years old now and an inspiration to me. As a boy I loved her pictures of Narnia, and no matter how many editions the series has gone through with different covers, Pauline’s illustrations have been a constant. Several generations have been charmed and delighted by her work. After all, she was the first person to show us what Narnia looked like.

Buddy was our cocker spaniel dog that my daughters Rebecca and Miriam grew up with. If he could have danced, I think he might resemble the dancing dogs of the D page.