News from the Licensing World
This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on July 27, 2006 Sign up now!
by Karen Raugust, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 7/27/2006
Simon Spotlight Loves Chris
Simon & Schuster's media tie-in imprint, Simon Spotlight, has been focused on licenses for younger children, such as Dora the Explorer and other Nickelodeon books, and movie tie-ins such as Monster House. It has been looking for licenses for an older, tween demographic, and it found one in Everybody Hates Chris, the UPN TV series based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood. Starting in summer 2007, Simon Spotlight will introduce six 96-page chapter books per year (two per season).
"Licensing is becoming more of a factor for this age group," says Valerie Garfield, v-p and associate publisher, Simon Spotlight and Little Simon. "But there's sort of a disconnect. [The license] has to be brand-sensitive and savvy, but also match the needs of the age group. They love celebrities, but not all are appropriate for this demographic." The Everybody Hates Chris books will deal with issues that readers ages seven to 13, especially boys, can relate to, with the same sense of humor featured in the show. The fact that the main character is African-American was a bonus as well, Garfield says.
Licensing en Español
Bendon Publishing has been increasing the number of bilingual and Spanish-language titles it publishes, including some tied to the many general-market licenses it holds, such as Sesame Street. Now it has signed its first license tailored specifically to Spanish speakers, the Mexican sitcom El Chavo.
Owned by Mexican TV company Televisa and represented by United Media for U.S. licensing, the show, about a boy who lives in a barrel, airs in the U.S. on the Spanish-language cable network Galavisión. It has aired in Mexico for 35 years and in the U.S. for 25, and ranks among the top cable shows for Spanish-speaking Americans. An animated series based on the character will launch in the U.S. and Mexico this fall; Kellogg's is among the other licensing and promotional partners on board.
Bendon will publish eight titles in the fourth quarter, and has rights to all coloring and activity formats, as well as board books. "Retailers are asking us for more Spanish-speaking and bilingual books," says Bendon's president, Ben Ferguson, who notes that demand is particularly strong in border stores in the Southeast and Southwest U.S.; Wal-mart alone has about 400 border stores. "This is the perfect license for that," he says. The company will distribute El Chavo titles (both Spanish-only and Spanish-English) in the U.S. and Latin America, the latter being a growing market for Bendon.
Here Comes Wubbzy
This August, Nick Jr. and producer Bolder Media are introducing Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, an animated preschool property, through a multiplatform launch that includes the first-ever podcast for preschoolers, as well as broadband content and the TV series. Scholastic is signed as the master publisher, and plans to release a wide range of preschool formats, from storybooks to novelty and coloring/activity titles. The books will debut in spring 2008 along with other Wubbzy consumer products.
According to Stacy Lellos, Scholastic's director of licensed publishing. Nick Jr. and Bolder Media "were incredibly innovative in how they launched it, so from a licensing perspective it was interesting. But all that wouldn't have mattered if the show wasn't so fabulous. It's fresh and original, and it stood out in a really crowded preschool market. There were great stories on the show, so it lent itself naturally to books."
Specifics about Scholastic's program are still in the works. "We'll strive to be as innovative as they have been on the show," Lellos said, noting that the company is working with the series' creator, animator Bob Boyle. "He's helping us undestand the property and what the books could be. It's been a wonderful collaborative process."
Penguin's Penguins
In October, Penguin's Grosset & Dunlap imprint is releasing nine books—a substantial number for a movie tie-in program these days—inspired by the November Warner Bros. comedy-adventure release Happy Feet, about a tap-dancing Emperor penguin named Mumble. Formats include a movie storybook, junior novel, a bilingual paperback novel, a nonfiction title about penguins, a paperback reader, a board book, activity books and a Mad Libs title. Debra Dorfman, Grosset's president and publisher, says the original plan was to do a fairly broad program consisting of six or seven titles, but demand from retailers for particular formats led to more being added at the eleventhhour.
"The storyline is so touching and endearing," Dorfman says, adding that the humor, cast and positive message were all appealing. "The animation is gorgeous, the music is fabulous, and it's penguins! It's a natural fit." Grosset is printing more than 900,000 Happy Feet books, and reports strong sell-in of its displays featuring CGI art from the movie.
More Shortcake, Please
Grosset & Dunlap also is adding to its Strawberry Shortcake program (which cumulatively has over 10 million copies in print in all formats) with new titles for children both older and younger than the core audience. On the older end, it will introduce its first two early chapter books in spring 2007. Dorfman noted that Playmates Toys, the master licensee for Strawberry Shortcake dolls and other playthings, introduced a new line recently where the characters have been aged up. "There's been a great response in the mass retailers," she said. "Her fans are growing up, and they're not ready to let go."
On the younger end, Grosset premiered three titles for babies and toddlers this summer and is following up with two more board books this fall, Playtime for Baby Strawberry and Berry Sweet Baby Kisses, and two titles in spring 2007, including an Easter book. This September will also bring three tie-ins to the Strawberry Shortcake theatrical movie Sweet Dreams, including a movie storybook, an activity book containing a dreamcatcher, and a sticker storybook.
All told, the reincarnation of Strawberry Shortcake has driven $1.3 billion in retail sales of licensed products, according to licensing agent DIC Entertainment. Other publishers on board include Dalmation Press for coloring and activity books, Publications International and Meredith for sound books, Scholastic at Home for a Strawberry Shortcake & Friends Crafts Club continuity program, and Five Mile Press for jigsaw puzzle books. A large global publishing program includes Hachette in France, which is the top international territory for Strawberry books.
Hi-Tech Tie-Ins
Several publishers have forged licensing deals to supply content for new electronic educational devices sold mainly in toy departments, including the iQue personal robot from ToyQuest and the Tell-A-Story interactive reader from JAKKS Pacific.
The iQue, introduced this summer, interacts with children using voice recognition and text-to-speech technology. A license with Merriam-Webster provided 80,000 vocabulary words from its Intermediate Dictionary, while Encyclopaedia Britannica supplies content from its Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia for features such as the Word of the Day and This Day in History. (ToyQuest also has a license with Nickelodeon for a number of titles in its new Video Books interactive book line.)
JAKK's Tell-A-Story, a device that plugs into the TV and uses mini-cartridges featuring interactive versions of children's books, has signed book-based licenses for properties including Babar and Max & Ruby (from Nelvana), Raggedy Ann & Andy, Chica Chica Boom Boom and titles by Tomie dePaola and Karen Katz (Simon & Schuster), Olivia and Timothy Goes to School (Silver Lining Productions), Guess How Much I Love You? and I Love My Little Storybook (RJM Licensing), and Curious George (Universal Studios).
