Penguin, Egmont to Publish ‘Mr. Men Show’ Tie-Ins

By Karen Raugust, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 9/18/2008

Egmont U.K. and the Price Stern Sloan imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group have forged a deal with licensor Chorion to publish a range of books tied to The Mr. Men Show. The TV series premiered in February 2008 on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and Five’s Milkshake! block in the U.K. Penguin and Egmont are the English-language publishers of Roger Hargreaves’s classic Mr. Men and Little Miss books, which have sold 100 million copies worldwide since their publication in the 1970s. TV tie-in formats, which will launch in spring 2009, will include 8x8s, readers and sticker story books, among others.

Chorion’s brand activity for Mr. Men over the last year or so—including a line of t-shirts, a game-driven Web site and, most recently, the TV series— has had a big impact on sales of Penguin’s backlist already. Rhalee Hughes, director of publicity for Penguin Young Readers Group, says trade sales of classic Mr. Men and Little Miss books have exceeded one million units for the first nine months of 2008, representing a 213% increase over the total for all 12 months of last year. That compares to growth of 40% annually for the two previous years. She credits the brand activity in general, particularly the popular t-shirts, for the increase. Meanwhile, the Little Miss characters are breaking out, with sales this year showing a 244% increase over the entire previous year.

Chorion and the two publishers work together closely on the direction of the brand in general and publishing specifically. “We spend a lot of time strategizing on how to dovetail with each other,” says Don Weisberg, Penguin Young Readers Group president. “It’s all about expanding the brand and expanding the awareness in many different ways.”