LAFFERS DANCE - Kidscreen

Bold moves—S&S
is spinning original
IN
an
uct trap licensees some-
effort to break out of
the cookie-cutter prod-
times fall into, Simon & Schuster’s
license imprint Simon Spotlight
tween fi ction by is shaking up its approach to IPdriven
offerings. For the coming
drilling into the spring/summer line, the focus is
on building mini-publishing programs
emphasizing new novelty
formats and storytelling tactics
that tap into the DNA of the characters
involved. New book formats
featuring Nickelodeon faves SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the
Explorer are up fi rst, and the publisher is on the hunt for tween
licenses to pad out its programs for older kids.
According to Valerie Garfi eld, VP and associate publisher of
Little Simon/Simon Spotlight, the plan is to push the envelope and
give each property the imprint licenses a unique retail presence.
“With Dora, for example, we didn’t just say ‘Let’s do an 8x8 and a
ready-to-read.’” Instead, her team pored over what current formats
and new bookmaking technology would best suit Dora to create
the interactive, lower-priced novelty product she says mass retailers
are asking for right now.
One title, Dora Rides to Bike Park (US$9.99), features a working
bike bell that kids can play with as they read. Cousin Diego’s
DNA of the license
SIMON & SCHUSTER
TURNS ITS
SPOTLIGHT
ON FORMAT
INNOVATIONS
b y l a n a c a s t l e m a n
Swing, Diego, Swing! (US$12.99) comes with plush toys of Diego
and Baby Jaguar on a vine that can be attached by Velcro to
various parts of the book as the action unfolds. Meanwhile, the
mighty Sponge’s Party Pants (US$7.99) is a board book encased
in his pineapple house. Notably, the plots of these titles are not
derived directly from episodes of the three TV series.
Simon Spotlight’s dance card for preschool and younger-skewing
properties to fl esh out its inaugural novelty offering is getting
full, but Garfi eld admits she’s aggressively pursuing the tween
market and is continually scouting for hot licenses for the seven
and up crowd. With older kids, however, the innovation is coming
from the writing, not the add-on bells and whistles. Spotlight
is breaking new ground this summer by launching original chapter
books (US$5.99 apiece) based on Everybody Hates Chris and an
original fi ction series (US$5.99 each) featuring the Sprouse brothers
from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Garfi eld admits creating property-based books for tweens can
be tricky. It’s a media-savvy group that’s also suspicious of having
any brand/IP shoved at them, she explains. So the Sprouse
brothers’ book series 47 r.o.n.i.n. was developed in cooperation
with the boys (who are represented by the Olsen twins’ licensing
agent DualStar) and plays on their aspirational qualities without
referencing their TV alter-egos.
The adventure-laden spy stories are meant to engage tween
boys, and the teen brothers acted as a sounding board for Simon
Spotlight, identifying “cheesy” or unbelievable plot points.
JANUARY 2007
27
licensing