In Brief

Penguin Putnam will publish illustrated books, juvenile novelizations and story books for New Line's November 2003 film Elf, and will release a Mad Libs title tied to Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes.... Modern Publishing's newly acquired licenses for coloring and activity titles include Bratz (from MGA Entertainment), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4Kids) and Beyblades (Nelvana).... Universal Consumer Products announced the first licensees for the live-action film based on J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Products for North America will include sleepwear, cake decorating kits, plush, blankets, party goods and posters; Simon & Schuster will publish tie-in books in Europe.... Scholastic will produce one title tied to Nelvana's educational public television series Cyberchase.... Wiley signed Franklin-Covey as the licensee for Frommer's day planners. It also launched a licensing effort for Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, for kitchen-related products.... Disney granted rights to Tokyopop to create a Cine-manga title based on Monsters Inc.... Silver Lining Productions authorized Briarpatch to market Olivia games and puzzles and Wink to market Olivia wooden furniture accessories.... Nickelodeon signed Scholastic-at-Home for continuity book clubs tied to its TV series The Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, Rocket Power, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Wild Thornberrys.... Kenn Viselman Presents... signed a license with Barnes & Noble for four paper-over-board concept books tied to the toy line L'il Pet Hospital.... Brown Shoe Company is among the latest licensees for Universal's upcoming film, Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat.... New licensees granted by The Sharpe Company for Humphrey's Corner, the children's book line by Sally Hunter, include Sandylion (stickers and scrapbooking) and Scene Weaver (throws).... The Wildflower Group will license Newton's Law, a U.K. literary property with £4 million in book and product sales. Created by the Rory Tyger Group, the bedtime book has 20 licensees in the U.K; Barron's published a co-edition in the U.S.... The Joester-Loria Group signed two licensees for Berlitz: Airborne Entertainment for mobile phone alert messaging and DTI Software for in-flight learning applications.... Lavinia's World is licensing three of its new book series, The Kyss Family Mysteries, Softi's Adventures and The Little Stories of Manoosh and Baloosh. A display featuring books and products will appear in U.S. supermarkets in spring 2004.... Geonopolis is licensing JEB, a multicultural coloring/song/reading book that teaches geometry. It is seeking a publisher as well as educational product licensees.