Meet the Author
Nuala Galbari was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the daughter of a Royal Navy Lieutenant-Commander. She studied hospitality management at the Belfast College of Business Studies and later moved to London where she studied fine arts and acting through ILEA-Notting Hill Gate. During the early-seventies, she joined a London-based international airline as a flight attendant and later trained for several airlines in safety and survival procedures. In the early 1980s, she relocated to the United States and joined the editorial staff of a Minnesota advertising agency where she worked as a media relations manager and editorial writer for over nine years, while continuing studies in fine arts, design and creative writing. She has contributed articles and stories to Pleasant Living magazine, and writes regularly for Airways magazine. Nuala is a member of the Authors Guild, New York, NY, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Los Angeles, CA. She lives in Gloucester, Virginia.
Details
Formats: Paperback, E-book
Pages: 148
PB ISBN: 978-1-883911-97-3
EB ISBN: 978-1-883911-48-5
Release Date: 9/1/2010
Endorsements
“Children will be captivated when they meet Timothy the tortoise, Octavious the osprey, Grahame the groundhog and their friends of various species, all dwelling in the woods of Wicomico. Nuala Galbari has written, and Buttons Boggs has illustrated, a narrative that’s up-to-the minute in its environmental message, but timeless in its ability to bring animals to vital life as distinct individuals. Best of all, through its sparkling vocabulary, and original songs and lyrics, this book invites an engaged and creative response on the part of its young readers.”
~ Barbara J. King, author of Being with Animals
“Nuala Galbari’s The Woods of Wicomico is a winner out of the gate. It expresses her powerful concern for the Chesapeake Bay environment, and is alive with endearing and expertly animated wildlife characters. The poem Victus Astrum (Shining Star) can easily bring a tear of concern and the awareness for action to the heart and mind of anyone reading this excellent book. Children will love it. I truly hope Nuala will consider expanding her effort into a powerful series covering the full ecosystem.”
~ Jim Welch, CEO, IPAC Marine Environmental Research Corp (a concerned nonprofit corporation)
“As a parent and grandparent reading The Woods of Wicomico to a young child, one soon begins to relive one’s own childhood. The cast of animal characters become real as they plan on recovering their woodland home, causing one to ponder the fate of our own wild woodlands today – indeed the very fate of our planet – as we face increasing pollution and overpopulation. The Woods of Wicomico is a book not only for tomorrow’s generation of occupants – our children and grandchildren – but also for us as adults. What are we to learn from the voices of Wicomico’s animals? Such abstract concepts as time, duty and responsibility, as taught by old Cornelius the crow to Timothy Trumble the tortoise, apply to all of us today. Only we can make this, our Earth, a better place.”
~ David L. Justis, M.D., Ph.D
“The author has woven together a story combining wit, charm and imagination with the rich natural abundance of Virginia’s Bay and woodlands. She imbues a deep sense of place to this small patch of woods, rooted in nature and history, and crafts a compelling and timely message about protecting these special places before they are lost. Though intended as a children’s story, it embraces themes of connections with nature and our past that we should all appreciate, and does so with elegant prose and lavish illustrations that everyone can enjoy.”
~ Thane Harpole, co-director, Fairfield Foundation
“Animal lore guarantees a flight-path into any child’s heart and imagination, and Nuala Galbari and Buttons Boggs have, through the artful interweaving of narrative, song and illustration, provided a fanciful passage connecting sky, sea and land in an entertaining force of nature. No child should be denied the opportunity of meeting the wondrous allegorical community of Wicomico, and as the reader is swept along on a mission to save the woods of Wicomico, we discover the environs of York River and Chesapeake Bay playing an equally central role in the drama. Ms. Galbari proves a consummate fablist delivering a story rich in simple metaphor, positioning markers of moral direction at comprehensible levels for even the youngest of readers. The Woods of Wicomico is reason enough to celebrate as the spirit of Potter, Aesop and Orwell live on in Ms. Galbari and her meaningful menagerie!”
~ Phillip M. Church, Assoc. Professor, Dept of Theatre, Florida International University
Meet the Illustrator
Buttons Boggs is an illustrator, portrait painter, muralist, sculptor, writer and book artist. She has been an artist / writer-in-residence in schools in King William County, Petersburg, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia. She is the author and illustrator of Noah and the Ark as Told by Unkle Ernie. Some of the books she’s illustrated include Do Spiders Need Leggins When It’s Cold Outside? written by Terri Sebastian; Lily of St. Lukes: The Blessing of the Animals written by Fran Olsen; River Rats written by Ralph Christopher; and The Monarch’s Feast, from the family and friends of the Mary Munford School. She has a daughter, Belle, son, Sky, and son-in-law, Richard. She lives in beautiful downtown Walkerton, Virginia with her husband Terry, dogs Maggi and Griffin, a very old cat, Mischief, and an adopted feral colony of Hemingway cats: Portia, Mewls, Cheese, Omar, Layla and Graycie.
