Today marks the release of Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man Pop Up book, which is the first in a series of four. The series features original excerpts with new metallic pop-ups and slide-out character fact files.
Marvel invites you to get acquainted (again) with Spider-Man as he meets up with his seven deadliest foes, including Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Sandman.
Candlewick Press has announced the paperback release of Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? book on today, April 10. This special edition has “lots of eye-boggling extras” including Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard and Odlaw.
Following the release of Lemony Snicket’s last book of his Unfortunate Events series, The End
The first paperbacks to be released next month will be The Bad Beginning
HarperCollins is looking to up the appeal of the paperback releases by including additional information and new illustrations by illustrator Brett Helquist with each book. The additions should help boost sales, although it’s hard to imagine topping the more than 25 million copies of the hardback books already in print.
HarperCollins, Lemony Snicket, paperback, The End, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, Brett Helquist
Charlesbridge is giving away 500 copies of the paperback edition of First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, illustrated by Judy Love, to teachers across the United States. The publisher is encouraging teachers to welcome the 2007–2008 school year by reading the book aloud; to date, 350 teachers have already joined the Charlesbridge Read First Day Jitters on the First Day of School campaign.
The first 500 teachers to email trademarketing@charlesbridge.com (subject: America Reads First Day Jitters) by June 1, 2007 will receive a free paperback copy of the book. What are you waiting for?
When I was a kid in the 80s, I used to love those Choose Your Own Adventure books. You remember the ones… They were paperback books where the reader had the chance to determine the outcome of the characters by making choices about what happens next.
The Choose Your Own Adventure series was actually launched a year before the 80s, in 1979 by Bantam Books. Since that time, almost 200 CYOA book titles have been published worldwide totaling about 250 million books.
In 2003, the series went out of print. In response, R. A. Montgomery, the creator of the original series, decided to bring the series back. Together with his wife, he formed a new company, Chooseco, in 2004, in order to relaunch the series.
In 2006, a number of the books were re-launched, complete with a face lift to add to the appeal; new titles for the series are being released in 2007. CYOA also added even more endings for its existing stories which can be found on the company’s web site. To find the endings, readers have to engage in a series of interactive puzzles and games (my personal junior high nirvana). And if that wasn’t enough technology for you, the company has made one of its books, The Abominable Snowman, available as an iPod audio download.
Additional series were added to the publishing mix including a younger series (the Dragonlarks) for elementary school-aged children and The Golden Path, an illustrated, interactive seven-book fantasy epic packaged with collectible cards.
In other words, CYOA is picking up its game. And folks are taking notice. Or are they?
Clearly, the ad guys at DaimlerChrysler haven’t been paying attention or they might not have chosen a “Choose Your Own Adventure” ad campaign to trademark for their new Jeep Patriot. The ad campaign includes print and TV ads, as well as an interactive web site and movie. As a result, Mr. Montgomery and Chooseco LLC announced today that they have filed suit against DaimlerChrysler, BBDO Detroit, Organic and Marvel Entertainment for trademark infringement. Chooseco is also seeking an injunction against DaimlerChrysler and its advertising partners to prevent them from continuing to use the trademark in its ad campaign. Chooseco’s prior requests that Daimler Chrysler, BBDO, Organic Interactive and Marvel cease and desist the use of th trademark have been denied.
According to their press release, Chooseco publisher Shannon Gilligan maintains:
The misappropriation of the Choose Your Own Adventure mark by Jeep is particularly harmful as Choose Your Own Adventure books have also promoted interactive adventure and active lifestyles for boys and girls for over 20 years. The series maintains a large fan base of original readers who are now in the exact demographic Jeep targets. An internal market study done by one of our licensees indicated a 75% recognition rate of the Choose Your Own Adventure brand among 25-35 year olds. Choose Your Own Adventure has enormously positive associations for these young consumers. This Jeep ad campaign is a gross abuse of our brand.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. On the one hand, I wouldn’t expect that this would be a battle worth fighting for DaimlerChrysler. On the other hand, they might enjoy the boost in publicity that they will surely get for the new campaign, which was just launched two weeks ago.
One would guess that, somewhere in a cubicle at Jeep headquarters, there’s a storyboard marking out their options. If they choose option a… Stay tuned.
Click here to digg it!
Choose Your Own Adventure, Jeep, DaimlerChrysler, Patriot, Chooseco
As part of the ongoing countdown to the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Scholastic has released the cover illustration for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As with the other Potter books, the cover was designed by illustrator Mary GrandPre.
HarperCollins Publishers has announced that several new books will be released today.
They are:
Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap, Book Three: Physik (illustrated by Mark Zug) - Check out Angie’s awesome website for the Septimus Heap books.
Suzanne Williams’ Ten Naughty Little Monkeys (illustrated by Suzanne Watts). You can find out about Suzanne here.
Ginger Foglesong Guy’s My Grandma/Mi Abuelita (illustrated by Vivi Escriva)
Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars #2: Flawless. Check out Sara’s web site here.
Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy (illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser). Jane O’Connor will be on tour promoting her book. Click here for tour details.
In just two weeks, Bill Boedeker will find himself in a new position at Chronicle Books. Literally. The position is not only new to Bill (he was previously VP of Marketing and Associate Publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) but a new position altogether: children’s publishing director.
Chronicle’s founding children’s publisher, Victoria Rock, became editor-at-large for Chronicle, whose children’s division experienced its best year last year, both financially and critically. As publishing director, Boedeker will specifically look to grow the middle grade, young adult and fiction areas.
Penguin Young Readers Group has announced that Nick Hornby, New York Times-bestselling author of such books as High Fidelity
The book, Slam, tells the story of a young boy whose world is turned upside down in a life-altering moment. The main character, Sam, falls hard for a pretty girl and ultimately finds his way through conversations with a larger-than-life poster of his idol, champion skater Tony Hawk.
The hardcover edition of the book will be released in October 2007. A paperback edition will follow in 2008.
Guess who has joined the list of celebs like Madonna and Billy Crystal and decided to become a children’s book author? That’s right, she of forthright moral character, Jenna Bush.
Just today, HarperCollins Publishers announced that it has acquired world rights to Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope allegedly penned by Jenna. The story is classified as “young adult” and non-fiction and will be based on her experiences working as an intern for UNICEF in Central America (who knew?). The book will have color photographs throughout by photographer Mia Baxter (and fellow UT grad), who accompanied Bush on her trip. The book is scheduled for publication in Fall 2007 and a portion of the proceeds will go to UNICEF.
“I have been inspired by my work with adolescents in Central and South America,� said Jenna Bush. “These young people have faced extreme hardships and exclusion but are strong in spirit and have an incredible will to succeed. Through their stories, it is my hope to motivate young Americans to increase their awareness of other young people around the world: to learn about the challenges they face, how they triumph over adversity, and to become involved in helping them.�
This is both the crazy and good thing about Harry Potter: hype regarding the last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is already running high and it’s not officially being released until July (you can pre-order it from Amazon.com here for a pre-order guarantee price of less than $20 - the sale price in July will be close to $35).
I have (gasp) never read a Harry Potter book before. David, however, has, and if you’re interested in actual Harry Potter news, please pay him a visit. I swear, by the time that Deathly Hallows is released, to be able to craft an intelligent post about it…
But the story behind the Harry Potter mania is important to me, both as a mom and a blogger. Whether you enjoy Harry Potter or not, you have to admit that the overwhelming success of the series has inspired an entire generation of children to pick up a book and read again. I first realized this when my good friend waited in line to buy a Harry Potter book for her eight-year old nephew. She was waiting in line. For a book. For an eight-year old.
And a phenomenon was introduced.
It's impossible to get rid of a bad children's book once it has entered your house. In fact, if history teaches us anything, it's that it will become a favorite. Your child will cling to it, sleep with it and worst yet, require you to read it over and over again.
At tinytreasury.com, our mission is separate the good from the bad. If I can save one parent from having to read a rhyming book about dancing pigs, then I'll know I've done my job.
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