William Gadsby Peet talks to Nanette Newman and Lindsay Branagh about their first book together, narky earwigs and the magic of reading
I will admit to some slight nerves as I approached the residence of Nanette Newman to talk to her and Lindsay Branagh about their first children’s book together – The Importance of Being Ernest the Earwig. Nanette’s beautiful home features a rather imposing set of remote-controlled security gates, hence the mild crisis in confidence as I awaited admittance.
I needn’t have worried, however, and having passed muster and been buzzed through, I was greeted like an old acquaintance; and before you could say earwig, I found myself sat down in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and a scrumptious flapjack, nattering away to these two great friends about life as a journalist. Indeed, it took some mental effort on my part to remember I was there for an interview, and to ask them both a question that I’d been pondering on the walk up Miss Newman’s driveway: Why an earwig?
“Nanette had written a number of stories actually, that we both looked at and they were all fantastic, but it was Ernest that stood out to me somehow”, explains Lindsay.
“Because it’s mad!” laughs Nanette. “You know it’s very difficult to ask somebody to illustrate an earwig and give it character, but Lindsay was brilliant and did these first drawings where she managed to make an earwig come to life.
The plot of the book (as you might have gathered) focuses on earwigs – two to be precise, Ernest and Edward – who are peeved by the paucity of books featuring members of their own species. Wonderfully off the wall, it combines the beautiful artwork of Lindsay (which you can see around these pages) with some fantastic writing from the pen of Nanette: “Edward interrupted. ‘Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, your house is on fire, your earwigs are gone.’ A tear came to Ernest’s eye. ‘Much better,’ he sighed. ‘Very moving.’”
Given Nanette’s extensive career as an actresses, it is unsurprising to learn that the inspiration for the two main characters originated from the stage.
“About a hundred years ago I saw a play with Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud”, she recalls. “They were two old actors sitting on the stage arguing and I thought they were incredible characters. I was trying to come up with various ideas for children’s books and thought, what creature could I write about that nobody else does? With that as a premise I thought up this rather narky earwig and his friend, and all the time I had in my head these two old actors bickering.”
For Lindsay, inspiration for the book’s artwork was a little closer to home.
“I was talking to Nanette’s daughter Emma about this the other day”, she says. “Throughout the time I was working on the artwork for the book, I had my little Jack Russell watching me, sort of sitting at the table going ‘come play’ and I’d keep looking down at him until eventually I realised I was painting him on an earwig! So Jack, our Jack Russell is very much my main muse.”
“The book does rely so much on the visual aspect”, adds Nanette enthusiastically. “Because a lot of your target audience are too young to read and are having it read to them, so you rely on your illustrator to bring to life what you’ve dreamt. Fortunately, Lindsay had the right kind of madness and talent to make the characters work.”
What a wonderful phrase, “the right kind of madness”.
Subtly woven in amongst the wacky parts of the book are plenty of cleverly disguised lessons for young children. Complex concepts like similes and imagery are broken down in to easily graspable language – “When the moon was full and everything looked the colour of blackberries” – and there’s plenty of artwork from other great children’s books such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, so if your little one does enjoy it, there’s a wide scope for follow up bedtime stories.
Speaking to two women who have created a book together, and having taken a degree in English and Philosophy myself, I wasn’t shocked to see our conversation end with a trialogue of agreement on the importance of reading for kids.
“I think it is vitally important”, enthuses Nanette. “Because in actual fact there’s no greater pleasure in life than reading, and if you can read you’re never lonely, and if you can read you can learn anything. I think the sad thing is that the more children become obsessed with gadgets and television, the more it seems they’re moving away from books.”
“It’s everything I think isn’t it?”, agrees Lindsay. “They’re learning how to communicate, they’re learning about their own emotions, and they’re learning about the world around them.”
“And it’s a very valuable moment when you have children that are at an age where they go to bed and you tell them a story”, concludes Nanette. “My husband [Bryan Forbes] always used to read or tell the children a story before bedtime, and would make up such exotic things that you would hear these hysterics from their rooms.”
“You’d hear him say things like (adopts wonderfully bad French accent) ‘And then this cat, Monsieur Le Blanc said ‘Oh no, I have another dustbin to eat through before I go to bed’ and it was always total madness. The kids waited for these stories and I’d say, ‘Darling you’ve wound them up now, they won’t go to sleep!’ But they loved it.
What a nice image to leave you with; the late Bryan Forbes imitating a French cat called Monsieur Le Blanc.
Although, before I go I do have a confession to make: having finished my interview with Nanette and Lindsay, I found myself waiting for the aforementioned electronic gates to open. After about a minute I gave up, and, faced with the awkwardness of walking back up the driveway to ask for help, or the madness of climbing over Nanette’s wall, I opted for the latter. I think Ernest would approve.
- The Importance of Being Ernest the Earwig is published by Templar and available on Amazon and in all good bookstores including Waterstones
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