Transatlantic is elated to announce that Senior acquisitions editor Naomi Krueger at Beaming Books has acquired world rights to IF GOD WERE A GREAT BIG BEAR by Ezra Jack Keats Best New Writer Award-winning author Paul Harbridge (for OUT INTO THE BIG WIDE LAKE), to be illustrated by Marta Dorado.
The picture book for ages 4-8 is a meditation on the nature of God in the world—from bears to wiggly worms to whales. Publication is slated for spring 2025.
Paul Harbridge is the author of the picture book Helena’s Voyage (O-Books), and several published short stories, including When the Moon Comes (Tundra Books/Penguin Random House), which won the Muskoka Magazine short story contest. A graduate of the University of Toronto, he works as a speech-language pathologist with adults with developmental disabilities. He and his wife Isabel live in Etobicoke, Ontario and are the proud parents of Daniel and Helena. Paul grew up in Muskoka and feels he carries the lakes and forests in his heart wherever he goes.
Amy Tompkins at the Transatlantic Agency represented the author and Tina Doffing at Astound represented the illustrator.
Congratulations Paul!