An Easter Sales Bounce for Board Books: The Weekly Scorecard

It looks like board books will be popular gifts for Easter this year. At outlets that report to NPD BookScan, unit sales of the format were 83% higher in the week ended Apr. 9, 2017, than in the comparable week in 2016, contributing to a 13% increase in total unit sales. The juvenile categories were the biggest beneficiaries of the board book bonanza: unit sales of juvenile fiction books were 39% higher and juvenile nonfiction sales were 33% higher than in the comparable week last year. Three of the week’s top-selling fiction titles were board books, led by Happy Easter Mouse by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond, which sold more than 16,000 copies, putting it in second place on the juvenile fiction bestseller list. In juvenile nonfiction, The Animals board book was the top title, selling almost 11,000 copies to edge out Easter Eggstravaganza Mad Libs by Roger Price, which sold slightly more than 10,000 copies. And it wasn’t only board books that sold well in the week: three editions of Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why sold more than 54,000 copies, aided by the debut of the Netflix television adaptation. Three new titles helped to lift unit sales of adult nonfiction 5% from the comparable week in the previous year: Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott landed in the third spot on the category nonfiction list, selling more than 16,000 copies. In fourth place was Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee de la Foret, which sold more than 22,000 copies. And in ninth place was Head Strong by Dave Asprey, which sold more than 11,000 copies in its first week. Unit sales in adult fiction fell 2% in the week. The Black Book by James Patterson and David Ellis remained the #1 fiction title, selling more than 31,000 copies.

Unit Sales of Print Books by Channel (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Category (in thousands)

Unit Sales of Print Books by Format (in thousands)