Billy Sharff – Jill Grinberg Literary Management

Billy Sharff

Billy Sharff is an author who writes picture books and poems for kids of all ages. He is the author of When Santa Came to Stay, illustrated by Eda Kaban (Dial Children’s Books, 2022) and Joan in the Cone, illustrated by Hala Tahboub (Dial Children’s Books, 2025). He received a commendation for the Caterpillar Poetry Prize in 2019, and lives with his wife and daughter in New Hampshire.

Agent

Katelyn Detweiler

Joan in the Cone

Jessica Garrison at Dial has bought, in an exclusive submission, world rights to Joan in the Cone by Billy Sharff (l.), illustrated by Hala Tahboub. The picture book follows Joan the dog, newly stuck in a cone and facing humorous challenges and mortifications, as she reflects on her pre-cone glory days and misadventures—including what led to her injury—and begins to embrace the cone and life’s joyful adventures. Publication is planned for summer 2025; Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management represented the author, and Rebecca Sherman at Writers House represented the artist.

Publisher

Dial Children's Books

Publication Date

Summer 2025

Age Category

Picture Book

Genre

Humor

Rights

Penguin Random House

When Santa Came to Stay

The Grinch meets Snowmen at Christmas in this rollicking, rhyming picture book that answers the question, Why can’t Christmas last all year?

What happens when your Christmas cookies are too good? Santa comes . . . to stay! At first, it’s fantastic: treats and toys and reindeer flights every day. Then Mrs. Claus arrives. And Baby Claus. And before long, the Easter Bunny and her babies Chuck and Puck and Luck and Duck and . . . you get the picture. By the time the Fourth of July rolls around, everyone’s had a bit too much eggnog in their cereal and confetti in their hair. As one family discovers, maybe the true meaning of Christmas is about more than presents and sweets. And maybe there’s a reason it comes but once a year.