Children’s Educator Signs with ODB, B&H
Children’s educator and presenter Sue Irwin’s Hey There, Blue Bird! Why Do You Chirp? was taken for world rights by Michelle Freeman of B&H Publishing via Rebekah Von Lintel at Embolden Media Group. The illustrator, Agnieszka Wajda, was represented by Christina Doffing at Astound US. The summer 2026 release for ages 0–4 is a board book featuring animals and a young child celebrating and expressing gratitude for God’s love through song.
Von Lintel also negotiated world rights for Irwin’s Here and There: A Book About Earth and Heaven that will be published by Our Daily Bread. Katara Patton and Chrisynthia Floyd of ODB signed for the picture book for ages 4–8 that offers examples of what the Bible says Christians will experience in heaven. Fall 2027 publication is planned. An illustrator will be announced at a later date.
IVP Takes Chapman’s Title on Joy
Kelli Trujillo, acquiring editor at InterVarsity Press, has taken world rights to the tentatively titled Activating Joy by Kevin Chapman, unagented, for a planned spring 2027 release. The book is a follow-up to Chapman’s Mastering Our Emotions, which addressed the downward spiral of negative thinking and feelings, and focuses on understanding and strengthening our capacity for instigating so-called upward spirals. Chapman is a licensed clinical psychologist and leads Sound Mind Ministries, plus hosts The Sound Mind Show on YouTube.
Multnomah Signs Pair Who Address Chronic Illness
Will Anderson, senior editor at Multnomah, has acquired world rights via Don Gates at the Gates Group for He Knows Our Frame: Biblical Reflections on the Nearness of Jesus by Kristen Wetherell and Sarah Walton. The authors use 30 reflective readings, drawn from their struggles with chronic illness, to offer a reminder that Jesus doesn’t ignore our weakness but instead steps into it with us. Publication is set for summer 2026.
Tasha Jun’s Look at Longings Goes to IVP
Jevon Bolden of Embolden Media Group has negotiated world rights with IVP trade editor Kelli Trujillo for Tasha Jun’s Shalomsick, tentatively subtitled An Ache Is a Witness, which explores, the publisher said, the deep longing, yearning, aches, and laments we all carry. Jun reframes such hurts not as things to “pray away” or avoid, but instead as experiences that can guide us in our spiritual journey toward wholeness and away from “shalomsick.” Jun (Tell Me the Dream Again) is a Korean-American writer, speaker, and spiritual director in training. The book is planned fore in summer 2027.
Whitaker House Acquires Spanish Rights to a Classic
Whitaker House has acquired Spanish-language rights to author and anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton’s bestselling classic Cry, the Beloved Country, which has sold 15 million copies in English. Whitaker Español will release the Spanish edition in 2026, according to publisher Christine Whitaker. The house also rereleased Paton’s Instruments of Peace, based on the prayers of St. Francis of Assisi, in mid-May.
