It’s that wonderful time again…time to reveal the cover of an upcoming board book, written by David McMullin and illustrated by Allison Black and published by Penguin Random House…ROCK’N’ROLL, BABY!

Oh my goodness…just look at that stunning cover art! Joyful! Engaging! Vibrant! And Simple! Everything we want in a board book for our youngest story lovers! And we are so very lucky because author David has stopped by to chat about the story behind the story.

ME: Welcome, David! Thank you so much for stopping by. We all love to discover how books came to be…please share.

DAVID: Thank you for having me, Vivian. I’m a huge fan of your blog…and your #50PreciousWords Contest. I’d love to share how the book came to be:

ROCK ’N’ ROLL BABY is a rhyming board book featuring different types of rock music while following a diverse group of babies through their daily routines.

I wrote the first draft way back in 2016 when fractured fairy tales were having their moment. I looked for a well known children’s story that hadn’t been explored yet and was surprised to discover that no one had given the lullaby, Rock-a-bye Baby, a good rock ’n’ roll makeover. The word play seemed obvious, so I gave it a go.

It’s route to becoming a board book was not straight forward. I wrote a four verse version that I hoped could be a picture book. In 2020 my agent submitted widely, but regardless of some close calls, it didn’t sell. In 2023, my agent suggested we revisit the manuscript, but also advised that it felt like a board book and if I wanted to sell it as a picture book, I should do some rewrites. This is when I expanded the text and gave it a new arc. Who would have guess that within an hour of my agent submitting we would get an email from an editor stating that they may make an offer if I was willing to sell it as a board book? I was willing!

Now available for pre-order at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/771704/rock-n-roll-baby-by-david-mcmullin-illustrated-by-allison-black/

David McMullin is a picture book author, illustrator, and children’s poet. His books include FREE TO BE FABULOUS (HarperCollins), ROCK ’N’ ROLL BABY (Penguin/Random House) and a soon-to-be-announced early reader series. Honors include an SCBWI Ann Whitford Paul Award, an Astra International Picture Book Writing Contest award, a Madness Poetry championship and he was a Picture Book Rising Stars mentor. David and his husband are currently full time world travelers, bird nerds, and YouTubers. In past careers he was a Broadway actor, an educator, and a children’s librarian.
Website: http://www.davidmcmullinbooks.com/welcome/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidmcmullinpb/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tendegreeswarmer

The Illustrator – New York-born illustrator Allison Black started her own stationery company, Hip Hip!, in 2015 and is experienced in creating artwork for fashion, homeware, stationery, and books. https://www.allisonblackillustration.com/  to see all of her amazing books and products.

Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us, David.
And, dear blog friends, please do what you can to help this book become a success.
You can:
Buy the Book
Review the Book
Tell friends about the book (please share this post on your social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies of the book for their shelves

I hope you all have a wonderful week!