Book Giveaway: YOUR NURSERY IS AN EVERYWHERE by Carol Bullman

Carol Bullman has written and illustrated a new picture book, YOUR NURSERY IS AN EVERYWHERE, illustrated by Maureen McAfee and published by Blue Whale Press. It is available now in bookstores Carol has agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner living in the United States.

All you have to do to get in the running is leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know other things you do to share the good news, so I can put the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter or reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. So, thanks for helping Carol and Maureen.

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you everyday, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION: 

“An excellent bedtime choice that promotes a timeless closeness between parent and child.” – Kirkus Reviews

“It’s rare to see a read-aloud story that so nicely embraces both parent and child with a supportive, lovely lesson about growing up and entering the world. Your Nursery Is an Everywhere is highly recommended for young and old alike!” – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Your Nursery Is an Everywhere by Carol Bullman is a wonderful bedtime storybook for parents and grandparents to read out to their kids and grandkids.” – Mamta Madhavan, Readers’ Favorite

Having a baby opens up the world in so many ways, but it also closes it off, in the sweetest of ways. “It seems, inside this little room, the walls are fading clear, and all the beauty in the world, is shining on us here.” In this beautifully written and illustrated book, a mother and baby savor the coziness of “now” in the nursery while the mother has expansive dreams for her baby’s future. The wall fades away, and the magical dreams come alive before readers’ eyes!

BOOK JOURNEY:

When an author says they’ve lived their whole life to write a book, they’re usually referring to a novel or a memoir.  But it took my whole life to prepare me to write a 240-word picture book!

Although I deeply felt all the love expressed in YOUR NURSERY IS AN EVERYWHERE for my baby sons, I couldn’t have written it as a new mother.  At the time, it didn’t sink in that having babies around was like Cinderella’s night at the ball.  It would all be over too soon!  When my firstborn son turned 13, I was very emotional, seeing the fairytale of his childhood for the magical, fleeting thing it was!  When I held a cooing baby in our church’s nursery that week, these pages of my heart opened.

My own childhood is also present in the book.  As a little girl, I wished we could pick up our old Victorian house and move it outside the city, like the yellow cottage in THE LITTLE HOUSE by Virginia Lee Burton.  I have always loved farms, flowers, snow, and the natural world, and I dreamed of sharing those joys with my children.

My college years are reflected in the quote at the beginning of the book, pulled from a John Donne poem I came to love during one of my literature courses.  I memorized the poem to bestow its sentiment upon my fiancé, who has now been my husband for over 20 years.  “For love . . . makes one little room an everywhere.”

The morning I wrote YOUR NURSERY IS AN EVERYWHERE, a miracle greeted me.  I awoke to a ceiling bejeweled with stars!  Some people might easily explain that away as grogginess, but, simultaneously, I knew the first line of my book would be, “The ceiling is a sky of stars . . . .”  After that, the words flowed in a rush of excitement and powerful emotion.

While my manuscript was still fresh, my regional SCBWI chapter held a conference.  I signed up to attend a round table session with Alayne Kay Christian, an editor from a new publishing company, Blue Whale Press.  She read my manuscript and was astonishingly encouraging to me.  It was as if I’d met my very own Ursula Nordstrom!

When I officially sent my manuscript to Blue Whale Press, Alayne was concerned about the scansion of my poetry in a few places.  Providentially, I’d attended a Josh Funk course on rhyming picture books at the very conference where I’d met Alayne.  He’d pointed me in the right direction.  Once I smoothed out the wrinkles in the meter, Blue Whale Press said, “YES!”

Alayne presented several illustrators to me, and I showed their online galleries to my sister, Amy, who is an artist herself.  Amy chose Maureen McAfee, saying, “There is joy in her work.  She can draw anything.”  Alayne wholeheartedly agreed.  It has been so much fun seeing how Maureen’s beautiful illustrations add to the story!

12 ½ years passed between my first and second published picture books.  There was much lamenting of my bulging folder of rejections during the meantime.  But looking back, it was a sweet season of nurturing my young children and living the moments that would eventually lead to this book.

AUTHOR BIO:

Carol Bullman lives in an English-style cottage in Texas, where she thanks God for her family and friends, the books spilling across the coffee table, the magic of music, the flowers in her garden, and all the children’s-book moments in life.

She is the author of the picture books, Your Nursery Is an Everywhere and The Christmas House.  Visit her online at aChildrensBookWorld.com.

MAUREEN’S BIO:

Maureen McAfee is an artist and illustrator based in Boston, Massachusetts. She loves working in both digital and traditional media, including colored pencil, gouache, ink, and watercolor. When she’s not making art, you can find her biking along the Charles River or in her Brighton apartment with a big cup of coffee and a book (almost always a mystery)!

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Maureen graduated in 2019 from Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she earned a BFA in Illustration. She is currently, a children’s illustrator at Clear Fork Publishing releasing her first book this spring.

​She is always looking for new projects and creative opportunities, so feel free to contact her at maureenmcafeeart@gmail.com

Carol, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. Your Nursery Is An Everywhere looks likes a lovely written and illustrated book. Holding a new baby truly is magical and I’m so glad holding a cooing baby in our church’s nursery help bring this book out of you and give it life. Maureen did a wonderful job with the illustrations. Good luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy