Oren Lavie is an award-winning author, musician, and director. His children’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages, and in 2023, Truman Toad and the Perfect Hug, his third book, was nominated for the prestigious German Youth Literature Award. He has also been nominated for a Grammy Award, and one of his songs was featured in the Disney movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Oren’s debut picture book, The Bear Who Wasn’t There, was published to great acclaim in Germany and was released in the US through Akashic Book’s Black Sheep imprint. O, The Oprah Magazine called the book “irresistible” and “playfully existential,” and a starred review in Publishers Weekly praised “the charm of Lavie’s storytelling voice.” Oren lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.