The song of the nightingale - Tanya Landman

A gorgeous and evocative story of how the animals got their colours, from Carnegie Medal winner Tanya Landman and V&A Illustration Award winner Laura Carlin.

The earth was young and full of colour. But the animals were dull and drab. The painter decided: something must be done! With dabs and sweeps the painter's brush creates the stripes on the zebra, the sharp suit of the penguin and the bright splashes on parrots. But what can he give the nightingale when his paintbox has run dry? A beautiful and gently moving tale from the award-winning Tanya Landman and Laura Carlin.

Carnegie Medal-winning children's author and co-director of Storybox Theatre, a theatrical company aimed primarily at children.

Tanya Landman (Buffalo Soldier) and Laura Carlin (The Promise, King of the Sky) are the dream team.
The Times & The IrishTimes

Carnegie Medal winner Landman teams up with the exquisitely talented Carlin for a striking and evocative story of how the animals got their colours.
The Bookseller - Fiona Noble

A glorious hymn to creativity.
New Statesman

The Song of the Nightingale snuck in at the tail end of the year but shone immediately with its beautiful account of the Earth's animals receiving their colours from an artist at the beginning of time. […] Reminiscent of John Burningham 's textured, painterly early work, Laura Carlin 's illustrations evolve from scratchy pencil sketches to vibrant, inky pictures of animals strutting and strolling, sent on their way by the painter, looking almost still wet. A celebration not just of the Earth's creatures but creativity itself, this is an origin story to savour.
The Guardian