Sharon Giltrow
26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit: DAYS 11-14
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 11-14 of 26 Days of Facing the Chicken Exit!
DAY 11: Sharon Giltrow, author of BEDTIME, DADDY!
“I thought ‘The Little Mermaid’ roller coaster at Disneyland Tokyo would be doable. I lined up with my then 9-year old daughter and I inched to the front of the line. I said to myself “I am a 43 year old woman, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.” So I bravely turned left and took the chicken exit.”
DAY 13: Wendy MacKnight, author of THE FRAME-UP
“I was 9 years old, the last kid on my street to ride a bike because I was scared of falling. “Enough,” I said finally, staring down the slight incline at the top of my street. It took five tries, a few falls, but I did it – total bike boss, chicken no more!”
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DAY 14: Fort Builders, Inc. Team
The Fort Builders team faced their chicken exit when all their hard work was destroyed and they had to decide whether to give up or find a way to make it work!
~by Dee Romito, art by Marta Kissi
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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
Speak up:
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Bedtime Daddy, Braver than Brave, Chicken Exit, Chicken Frank Dinosaur, Dee Romito, Facing down the Chicken Exit, Fort Builders Inc., Jojo Ensslin, Marta Kissi, S.K. Wenger, Sharon Giltrow, The Frame-up, Wendy Macknight26 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?
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!”
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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:
Speak up:
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Arielle Li, Braver than Brave, Chicken Exit, Eunji Jung, Janet Sumner Johnson, release day countdown, Sharon Giltrow, WandaAuthor Interview: Sharon Giltrow
Today we have another author interview! I’m so excited to have Sharon Giltrow on my blog just in time for Father’s Day! She is the author of Bedtime, Daddy! which released on May 12th. Let’s jump right in, and as always, I’m in bold green.
Hi Sharon, welcome to my blog! Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you came to write children’s books?
Sure, I would love to 😊. I am the youngest of eight children and grew up on a farm in South Australia. My childhood was spent reading, making mud pies, exploring the salt lake and swimming at the beach. Now I am a part-time teacher of children who have a developmental language disorder and best of all a full-time writer. I started writing children’s books when my first child was born in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2015 that I started taking the idea that I could become an author seriously. I joined Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 picture book challenge, enrolled in children’s book courses and started my journey towards becoming a published author.
Wow! SEVEN older brothers and sisters. As it happens, I grew up near a salt lake as well! Floating on the water is a pretty interesting experience. And I’m so glad you decided to write. Please tell us about your book!
Bedtime, Daddy! Is a humorous role reversal story, where the little bear in the story puts their daddy bear to bed. To do this the little bear must wrestle daddy bear into his pajamas, read just one more story, battle endless excuses, and use go-away monster spray to finally get daddy to bed. The story has a great balance between heart and humor. It would make a perfect bedtime and Father’s Day book, and there’s even a Teacher’s Guide.
I loved the role-reversal in Bedtime Daddy! What inspired you to write it?
My husband and my children. Over the last fourteen years my husband and I have taken turns reading to our children and putting them to bed. During the nightly bedtime routine, I had a lightbulb thought… ‘wouldn’t it be funny if our children put us the parents to bed.’ The idea for Bedtime, Daddy! was born.
I love those lightbulb moments! And the steps of getting Daddy to bed are hilarious. One of my favorite parts is the monster spray. Do you have a favorite part of the story?
My favourite part of the story is when Daddy Bear and Little Bear are snuggled up in bed reading a story and Daddy Bear interrupts the story with these questions…
‘Why don’t ducks have arms?’ Or ‘Do sharks sneeze?’
They were awesome questions! I love the randomness of it all. So true to life! And let’s talk art. The art is so whimsical, and fits the book perfectly. It really helps the reader feel that the advice is coming from a kid. Did you have any input on the art or illustrator? What was your reaction at seeing the art?
EK Books asked Katrin Dreiling to illustrate Bedtime, Daddy! Before I signed the contract, they sent me Katrin’s early sketches of the characters. There was a daddy bear, a human dad, a little bear and a little child. Anouska the editor made a suggestion that perhaps using bear characters would have a more universal appeal. I trusted Anouska’s advice and am very happy with the bear characters. I love Katrin’s illustrative style and colour palette and she has illustrated my words and vision perfectly. When I first saw the storyboard for Bedtime, Daddy! I was ecstatically happy.
How interesting! Very cool that you had a choice on that. Can we talk writing for a minute? How many picture books would you say you wrote before finally getting a deal on this one?
My first picture book I wrote was in 2006, I then went on to write nine more before I signed the deal for Bedtime, Daddy! Since signing the deal I have written four more picture book manuscripts and one chapter book manuscript.
That is a lot of books. This business takes a lot of perseverance! What helped you the most on the path to publication?
Not giving up and believing in myself! As well as the support of my critique partners and the Kidlit community. Surround yourself with like-minded writers.
That is great advice. Having that support makes all the difference!
One last question. I have a fascination for personalized license plates. What do you think Little Bear might choose for his personalized license plate? You have 8 characters. Go!
Zzzzzzz!
Hahaha! I love it! So perfect. Okay, I know I already said last question, but where can we purchase Bedtime, Daddy!?
Bedtime, Daddy! is now available to order around the world:
Thanks so much! And for my readers, see below for where to find and follow Sharon on social media platforms.
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Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, WA with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. When not writing, Sharon works with children with Developmental Language Disorder. Sharon was awarded the Paper Bird Fellowship in 2019. Her debut PB Bedtime, Daddy, released May 2020 through EK books.
You can find Sharon on her Website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.