Janet Sumner Johnson

26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit: DAYS 21-24

Today we’re continuing with the countdown to the release of my upcoming picture book, BRAVER THAN BRAVE, illustrated by Eunji Jung, and published by Capstone Editions, a Capstone Imprint. I present Days 21-24 of 26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit!

DAY 21: PB Character, Little One

A monarch caterpillar named Little One from HELLO, LITTLE ONE, exists in a lonely green world. It longs for a friend. One day an orange butterfly lands nearby and makes a connection. Although embarassed, Little One is brave and responds, making a new friend to end its loneliness. 

~by Zeena M. Pliska, art by Fiona Halliday

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DAY 22: Mr. Janet Sumner Johnson 

“I don’t like water sports. I know a lot of people love swimming or boating or whatnot. I don’t really. I think it goes back to almost drowning as a child or something. Now, I have worked on it because others have said I was silly for being afraid of water; but you know except for cruises and calm lake kayaking I still don’t like water or water sports. What inspires me to be braver in many aspects of my life is when I rock climb regularly. I have never been very good at it but I have certainly felt braver in many areas of my life when I struggled against that infuriating over hang or when I actually could complete the climb as planned. It was all about besting myself. Strange rock climbing over water skiing!”

 

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DAY 23: Janet Sumner Johnson (Me!), author of BRAVER THAN BRAVE

 

“One morning, when I was 6, my brothers and their friends built a bike ramp to jump off while waiting for the bus. I was new at riding my bike, and the jump was too big and scary for me. I sadly made my way home while they stayed and jumped. Not long after that, one of my brothers came home with bloody hands and cuts on his face. The ramp had collapsed when he tried to jump it. Suddenly I was glad I’d taken the chicken exit! Sometimes the chicken exit is the best choice, even if you don’t realize it at the time.”

 

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DAY 24: Jessie Oliveros, author of THE REMEMBER BALLOONS 

 

“When I learned how to drive as a teenager, I refused to drive through the heart of the city. I couldn’t handle the lane changes and traffic! So for years I took the “chicken exit” by taking the highways around the city and that worked out great! Then years later I went home to help a family member in the hospital and had to see and hear and do hard things. The first night I left the hospital, I could have gone around the city like usual. But what I had done that day was so hard that suddenly driving through the city didn’t seem so scary anymore. So I did! And I was okay and I’ve done it many times since. Sometimes we can take the chicken exit until we are ready not to!”

 

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I hope you enjoyed Days 21-24! If you want to learn more about Wanda’s Chicken exit, you can pre-order a copy of BRAVER THAN BRAVE at any of the following links (or wherever books are sold):

 

The King’s English     Bookshop.org         Amazon        Barnes & Noble 

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If you’ve missed the previous Facing Down the Chicken Exit Posts, you can find them here:

DAY 1: The Legend of the Chicken Exit

DAYS 2-4

DAYS 5-7

DAYS 8-10

DAYS 11-14

DAYS 15-17

DAYS 18-20

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26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit: DAYS 2 – 4

Today, we continue the countdown to the release of my upcoming picture book, BRAVER THAN BRAVE, illustrated by Eunji Jung, and published by Capstone Editions, a Capstone Imprint. I present Days 2-4 of 26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit!

DAY 2: Wanda, mc of Braver than Brave

Wanda wants to be Brave like her big brother Zane who is the bravest kid she knows. She tries the monkey bars, Skeleton hill, and even camp Wakalaka. But they are not her Brave. Will Wanda ever find HER Brave?

I love this picture of Wanda. @eunji.illustration really captures Wanda’s emotions. All the fears. All the doubts. Wanting to be Brave so badly, but so uncertain if she’ll ever manage it.

I feel that way all the time. How about you?

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DAY 3: Eunji Jung, Illustrator of Braver than Brave

“At the opening reception of my solo exhibit, I was so nervous and scared to do the artist talk in front of a lot of people, but I faced down my own chicken exit by thinking about the reward I would get for being a little brave. In the end, people loved my speech and art!”

 

 

DAY 4: Picture Book Character

Mama, from GET READY, MAMA, had to be brave and say goodbye to her daughter when it was time to go to school.

~by Sharon Giltrow & illustrated by Arielle Li

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And there we have Days 2-4! In celebration of the upcoming release of BRAVER THAN BRAVE, I’ve got two giveaways going on right now. One on Twitter, which you can enter HERE. And one on Instagram, which you can enter HERE. They both open through July 23rd, and they are both open to wherever Book Depository delivers. Good luck!

Check out other days of Facing the Chicken Exit:

DAY 1: The Legend of the Chicken Exit

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Middle Grade Giveaway!

Today, let me get right to the point. In the season of giving, I have some awesome middle grade books to give away to four lucky blog readers!

A personalized signed copy of THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY by Janet Sumner Johnson (me!!)

A signed copy of THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY by Laura Shovan

THE DISTANCE TO HOME by Jenn Bishop

THE RAT PRINCE by Bridget Hodder

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Simply enter using the Rafflecopter link below. The first winner will have first pick, the second winner will have second pick, and so forth. Sorry fourth winner, you get what’s left, but lucky you, it is bound to be fantastic!

Also, I have given the option to earn extra entries by posting a review. Just as an added incentive, if I get to 50 Amazon reviews (this is me being hopeful), I will release the never-before-seen final chapter that was cut before publication. Exciting, right??? To be clear, you can review PB&J Society however you would like, but every review is helpful.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a great day and good luck!

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My Launch in Review

My head is still buzzing over all the excitement of the last few days. On Friday, my book headed out to the world! My twitter feed went wild, and I conducted a couple of polls on two very important topics:

Team Grape vs. Team Strawberry (Team Grape: 25% vs. Team Strawberry: 75%)

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Chunky Peanut Butter vs. Creamy Peanut Butter (Chunky: 27% vs. Creamy: 73%)

I’m still in shock over the tragic defeat of Team Grape!

On Saturday I had a wonderful launch party at The King’s English Bookshop, so today I wanted to share the excitement of the party with a few pictures:

I couldn’t have open food, so we had PEANUT BUTTER  cups and JELLY beans.

My parents and sister surprised me with a beautiful framed picture of my cover. It was just perfect to display at the signing.

I brought my very first ever rejection from 21 years ago. (Isn’t that amazing?!) As a teen I sent a story idea to Disney, and that envelope contains their polite refusal to even look at it.

I told some stories. I read a few passages from my book . . .

We drew winners for some Pirate Prize Packs and a PB&J Prize Pack.

And I couldn’t resist throwing in a booby prize (or should I say Gooby prize?)!

And the whole thing concluded with the signing of lots and lots of books.

Thank you so much to everyone who came both in body and spirit! You’ve made me feel so special, and I’m grateful to have shared this amazing moment in my life with so many people I care about.

I wish you all a wonderful week, and much happiness!

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PB&J Society Bonus Story!

Today’s the day, guys! *throws confetti*

The PB&J Society Bonus Story, “Annie’s Bet,” is now live on the PB&J Society page and free to download!

I’m so excited for you all to meet Annie and Jason!

Also, I bet you’ve been wondering what a PB&J Society is exactly. So while you’re checking out the story, you can read up on the PB&J Society Rules, which are also now posted and downloadable (in a super cute poster format!).

So go on! Go check them out!

And enjoy!

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