Chester the Brave

Little Chester Raccoon, the beloved character who has helped so many children with issues in their lives, learns the meaning of bravery and a method for overcoming his fears in this new Audrey Penn title. After sharing the story of a little bird who is afraid to have flying lessons in front of his friends, Mrs. Raccoon tells Chester that being brave doesn’t mean being unafraid; being brave means not letting that fear stop him. Mrs. Raccoon teaches Chester an important strategy: Think-Tell-Do. When he thinks he is afraid, he tells himself he can do it, and then he just does it. Of course, getting a Kissing Hand helps a little too. This simple strategy can be helpful to children in many different situations.

Audrey Penn is the author of the NY Times bestseller, The Kissing Hand, and its sequels, along with a middle reader series, The Blackbeard Quartet. A former ballerina, Penn takes her one-woman educational program into schools, libraries, and children's hospitals, where she shapes and refines her story ideas in partnership with kids. A long-time resident of the Washington, D.C. area, she is a sought-after speaker for groups of teachers and other professionals who work with children. Award winning illustrator Barbara Leonard Gibson has been a freelance artist in the Baltimore-Washington area for 25 years. Oringally from New York, and with a degree in Fine Art and Design from Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked extensively in many areas, including historical illustration, children's books and magazines, cartooning, portraiture, wildlife illustrations, natural sciences, advertising, fantasy, and science fiction. This is her fifth collaboration with Audrey Penn, with whom she has tea every Thursday afternoon. Both live in Olney, MD.