Sierra V. Fedorko

Today I’m sharing the OFFICIAL book cover art for Carol of the Mourning Dove (pictured below🕊️♥️) and the story of how it all came to be!

After my husband, Ben, did some practice sketching, he began drawing for the book cover quite unceremoniously.

He drew on the floor in the kids room during their nightly bedtime routine. He drew sitting at the cluttered kitchen counter while I prepared dinner. He made finishing touches while sitting on the floor between the couch and coffee table in the evening when the kids were crowding and drawing on construction paper as music played in the background.

The cover art was sketched over a short period of time in little pockets of chaos and joy.

That will be special to me for years to come!

So what’s the backstory of my husband doing the book cover art for Carol of the Mourning Dove?

Well, on our 10th wedding anniversary getaway this August, my husband and I spent time talking about the year ahead and what we wanted for our family. In this conversation Ben said he wanted to sketch more for my poetry.

This was notable marked interest.

Oh, we’ve talked (and still do!) about writing children’s books alongside his illustrations, but what I found out that day is that he desired to draw for my actual poetry, though he wasn’t sure his art style would coincide well with my kind of poetry.

I understood what he meant, but I was very excited to see such marked interest! Of course we had never tried doing this together, and it’s easy to sell yourself short at first glance!

(Spoiler Alert: We had nothing to worry about.👏)

Long story short…

After other things fell through, I was sharing design ideas with Ben and printing off key-words and poems so he could sketch a book cover.

I had initially thought of bird wings on the cover or a bird in flight with plenty of florals, but I loved his idea much more with one single bird in clear view. It captures the theme of this poetry book more fully! Ben even took care with the flowers he chose to sketch on the front cover choosing ones that reflect early spring and hope.

We were also able to add his gorgeous and realistic Mourning Dove sketch on the inside of the book alongside an excerpt from my poem, “Joy Came with the Mourning Dove.”

I hope Carol of the Mourning Dove is the first of many more books together and many, many more of his sketches.

I’m thrilled to have done this work together and am so excited for you to have the book in your hands!❤

Sharing a new poem next week and maybe even the whole book itself – stay tuned!🥳