• Little, Brown Books for Young Readers’ Susan Rich has acquired world rights to Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley’s THE TRICKSTER SHADOW. The picture book is described as the story of a child who draws on ancestral wisdom to master the dark side of his emotions. Publication is slated for Fall 2025. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Milky Way Picture Books’ Nadine Robert has acquired world rights to Victor D. Santos and Dena Seiferling’s THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY DOG. The picture book follows a boy’s transformative journey of growth and self-discovery, guided by the unconditional love and life lessons imparted by his scruffy and loyal dog Luna; combining humour, heartfelt moments, and universal truths, it is a timeless ode to the bond between humans and their pets. Publication is planned for June 2026. Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists represented Dena Seiferling.

• McClelland & Stewart’s Stephanie Sinclair has acquired world rights to David A. Robertson’s 52 WAYS TO RECONCILE: HOW TO WALK WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ON THE PATH TO HEALING. The book is described as an accessible, friendly guide to small and attainable acts we can all make in our collective effort towards reconciliation. Publication is slated for May 2025. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• HarperCollins Canada’s Iris Tupholme has acquired Canadian English rights to Thomas King’s ALIENS ON THE MOON. The novel is described as a witty and wry tragicomedy set in a small Ontario town where all is seemingly ordinary except for one thing: aliens may have landed on the moon. Publication is slated for Fall 2025. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Owlkids’s Karen Boersma and Jennifer Stokes have acquired world rights to author-illustrator Katie Arthur’s WHAT IF MARTY DOESN’T LIKE MY PARTY? The graphic novel format picture book is described as a loving portrait of a strong sibling relationship that may offer readers a new way to work through their own worries. Publication is slated for March 2025. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Tundra’s Samantha Swenson has acquired world rights to Jennifer Harris’s THE WITCHING HOUR, to be illustrated by Adelina Lirius. The picture book is described as a slyly funny and deeply familiar slice-of-life story featuring a fussy little witch and their increasingly desperate family that tries to entertain a cranky baby. Publication is slated for June 2025. Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists represented Jennifer Harris, and Adelina Lirius represented herself.

Foreign rights:

• Cea Sunrise Person’s NORTH OF NORMAL to Wijesooriya Grantha Kendraya (Sri Lanka), by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Josef Skvorecky’s THE MIRACLE GAME, THE COWARDS, THE ENGINEER OF HUMAN SOULS to Hayat Books (Arabic), by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Tessa McWatt’s THE SNAG to Scribe (UK and Commonwealth excl., non-excl. Europe) by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser. Canadian rights previously to Anne Collins at Random House.

• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI renewed to Jakkajungsin (Korea), by Tae Eun Kim at Shinwon Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.  This is for audio rights.

• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI (illustrated) renewed to Jakkajungsin (Korea), by Tae Eun Kim at Shinwon Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.  

• Yann Martel’s BEATRICE AND VIRGIL renewed to Jakkajungsin (Korea), by Tae Eun Kim at Shinwon Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.  

• Janice Zawerbny at HarperCollins Canada has acquired Canadian English rights to Glenn Dixon’s (JULIET’S ANSWER) novel THE INFINITE SADNES OF SMALL APPLIANCES, about a household of sentient appliances (Watch, Fridge, Volvo and a Roomba vacuum that has christened itself Scout) that learn self-awareness, before ultimately confronting the most profound ethical questions facing their humans. Ifeoma Anyoku at Atria Books bought US rights, and publication will be simultaneous in spring 2026. Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists inked both deals.

• Groundwood Books’ publisher Karen Li has acquired world rights to Sara O’Leary and Qin Leng’s A FRIEND IS A FRIEND IS A FRIEND. The picture book is described as a companion to the enormously popular A FAMILY IS A FAMILY IS A FAMILY and A KID IS A KID IS A KID. Publication is expected for Spring 2026. Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists represented Sara O’Leary, and Qin Leng represented herself.

• Glenn Yeffeth at BenBella Books has bought World rights to Joseph Bradley and Don Tapscott’s THE DIGITAL SELF, the first book to explore Agentic AI, and how autonomous AI agents herald a new era in which intelligent systems are no longer mere tools but active participants in our world, to be published in Fall 2025. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio at Westwood Creative Artists.

Foreign rights:

• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI renewed to Gramedia (Indonesia), by Santo Manurung at Maxima Creative Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Yann Martel’s SON OF NOBODY to Jakkajungsin (Korea), by Tae Eun Kim at Shinwon, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Jay Ingram’s THE SCIENCE OF WHY 4 renewed to Beijing Green Beans Book Co. Ltd. (China), by Jenny Sun at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Rohinton Mistry’s A FINE BALANCE to Gyldendal (Denmark), by Monique Oosterhof at MO Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.

• Alchemy/Knopf Canada’s Dionne Brand and Lynn Henry have acquired Canadian English rights to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s THEORY OF WATER. The essay collection weaves Nishnaabeg story and tradition with the author’s own deep thinking and lived experience, offering a vision of water as a catalyst for radical transformation. Publication is slated for April 2025. Haymarket Books’s Anthony Arnove has acquired U.S. and U.K. rights. The deals were arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Alchemy/Knopf Canada’s Dionne Brand and Lynn Henry have acquired Canadian English rights to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s THE BREATHING LANDS: A NOVEL IN STORIES. It is described as a genre bending novel in seven stories that explores the Nishnaabeg idea of embodied politics, networked horizonal social structure, and the way seven different perspectives or truths blend to make an eighth understanding. Publication is slated for Spring 2026. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• HarperCollins Canada’s Jennifer Lambert has acquired Canadian English rights to Kim Fu’s THE VALLEY OF VENGEFUL GHOSTS. The novel is about a woman whose mind unravels as the waters rise and her new house crumbles amid a biblical rain, pitched as literary horror in the tradition of mid-20th-century writers like Shirley Jackson and Daphne du Maurier, except the horror is tied to 21st-century elements: the loneliness of the internet age, climate change, and the housing crisis. Publication is slated for March 2026. Tin House Books’s Masie Cochran has acquired U.S. rights. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists

• Groundwood Books publisher Karen Li has acquired world rights to Laurel Croza and Matt James’s ROCK. The picture book is described as a delightful existential story in which a rock remains true to itself when faced with a bullying seagull. Publication is slated for March 2025. Author Laurel Croza represented herself, and Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists represented illustrator Matt James.

• Tundra’s Samantha Swenson has acquired world rights to author-illustrator Lauren Soloy’s THE NEWEST GNOME. The picture book is described as a delightful story in which a new gnome is welcomed to The Pocket and that celebrates mindfulness, community and belonging, and the wonders of nature. Publication is expected for Fall 2025. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• HighWater Press’s Catherine Gerbasi has acquired world rights to three new books in David A. Robertson’s The Breakout Chronicles middle grade series. The chapter books follow an underdog hockey team featuring a young Indigenous protagonist, and include the recently published Book One: THE KODIAKS, andd the forthcoming Book Two: THE LEGEND OF DUSTY BENDER, Book Three: THE CANADIANS and Book Four: THE HAWKS. Publication for Book Two is expected for Spring 2026. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Jodi Lewchuk from University of Toronto Press has acquired World rights to veteran journalist Jeff Semple’s FAKE NEWS, from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists. With the rise of professional internet ‘trolls,’ Deepfake videos and state-sponsored foreign interference campaigns, it’s never been harder to discern fact from fiction. This book will follow the author as he travels the world reporting from the frontlines of a new disinformation war, to equip readers with the tools to protect themselves against the deceptions, for publication in Spring 2026.

• Nick Garrison from Penguin Canada has acquired world rights to Marc Lewis’ THE VOICES IN OUR HEADS from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists. The book relates case histories and vignettes showing that many clients in psychotherapy, as well as individuals pursuing self-help, find their inner worlds populated by a variety of part-selves, sometimes heard as internal voices, critics or cravings, that have been highlighted by new psychotherapies such as Internal Family Systems. The book provides a scientific look at how these part-selves emerge and stabilize in our lives, how they communicate with each other, and how improving their communication serves our pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment, due for publication in the fall of 2026.

• Patricia Ocampo at Kids Can Press has acquired world rights to Louise Bradford’s SAGE AND THE SHOWSHOE EXPRESS, a celebration of the important, and sometimes treacherous, work of 19th-century Indigenous mail carriers, in which a young Ojibwe girl follows her father, who delivers mail by snowshoe, as they try to outrace a dangerous snowstorm. It will publish in fall 2026, with art by Maya McKibbin, a two-spirited Ojibwe and Irish-settler animator and illustrator. Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represented Bradford, a member of Batchewana First Nation, whose great-great grandfather was a snowshoe mail carrier.

Foreign rights:

• John Glusman at Norton in the US, Michael Heyward at Text in Australia, Prometheus in the Netherlands via Marianne Schoenbach Agency, Presença in Portugal via Sandra Bruna Agency, XYZ for French in North America, and Polirom in Romania via Simona Kessler Agency have acquired SON OF NOBODY by Yann Martel. Canadian rights previously sold to Knopf and UK rights to Canongate. Rights sold by Jackie Kaiser and Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Ken Whyte from Sutherland House has acquired World excl. Israel rights to Joshua Lincoln’s book, ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS, from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists. The book offers a richly detailed account of the life in late-19th century Ottoman Palestine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā ‘Abbās, son of the founding prophet of the Bahā’ī faith, utilizing a wealth of Bahā’ī and other sources, illuminating ‘Abdu’l-Bahā’s unique personality, for publication in Spring 2025.

Film/TV:

• Julijette Inc. has optioned the film and TV rights to Anna Porter’s novel, GULL ISLAND, a chilling story told by a young woman alone on an island on Lake Huron, where loneliness, explosive memories, bad weather and terrifying dreams invade her mind during three day and nights, and she slowly realizes that some of her dreams may not be dreams, and that there is someone else there who wishes her harm. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of John Pearce.

• Lara Hinchberger at Penguin Canada has bought English Canadian rights to author of DEAR EVELYN Kathy Page’s GETTING BETTER AT BEING WORSE: DISPATCHES FROM THAT OTHER PLACE, a heart-rending but uplifting memoir in which the novelist battles and ultimately has to come to terms with Parkinson’s Disease, to be published in Fall 2025. The deal was arranged by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Author of the multi-award-winning early chapter book series THE NGUYEN KIDS Linda Trinh’s THE LEGENDARY ALLIES, a four-book, contemporary fantasy chapter book series that follows a team of adventuresome kids and their ally animals—inspired by Vietnamese mythical creatures (Phoenix, Lan, Turtle, and Dragon)—who are chosen to complete quests to further social justice in the magical land of Van Lang and must learn to work together, illustrated by Quynh Anh Nguyen, to Katie Hearn at Annick Press, in an exclusive submission, for publication Winter 2026, by Bridgette Kam at Westwood Creative Artists for the author (world).

• Riel Nason’s beloved ghost will continue its adventures in two new picture books, sold in a world rights deal to Samantha Swenson at Tundra Books. In the first title, THE LITTLE GHOST QUILT’S WINTER SURPRISE, the little ghost quilt—whose layers keep him warm in the winter—decorates a Christmas tree to show his friends the delights of the season. It will publish in fall 2025, with illustrations again provided by Byron Eggenschwiler. Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represented Nason in the deal.

• Jennifer Lambert from HarperCollins Canada has acquired World rights to Kevin Sylvester’s middle grade novel, TIME SURFERS, from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists, about a group of elite travelers who travel back in time to save treasures that have been lost to disasters and war, for publication in Fall 2025.