HarperCollins Children's signs four-book deal with Chichester Clark

HarperCollins Children's Books has signed a new four-book deal with picture book creator Emma Chichester Clark.

Colour publishing director Alice Blacker negotiated world rights with Caroline Walsh at David Higham Associates. The first book in the new deal will see the return of much-loved character George the Bear in a follow-up title to Bears Don’t Read. Titled Bears Don’t Cry, it will publish in hardback in September 2022.

The synopsis says: "When George the Bear ventures out to the library, he wonders why everyone is in such a rush. Where are they all going? And why won’t anybody stick around long enough to answer his questions? Then when George has an accident and lands in the fountain everyone roars with laughter. Poor George. But bears don’t cry, do they?"

Chichester Clark, who has published more than 60 books and has been translated into 21 languages, said: "I’ve always been a little in love with George—he is a kind of gentle giant, an innocent, who inevitably suffers in a world where people make assumptions about differences. His friend Clementine makes up for any fierceness George lacks, in her loyalty to him."

Blacker commented: "I’m so thrilled to have another picture book featuring the unforgettable George and Clementine. Emma is an icon of the picture-book world—and nobody writes about friendship quite the way she does."