Three of the seven best-selling children’s book series in China at the moment are based on licensed properties, and they may not necessarily be the ones you would expect.
Two are tied to global brands. China Children’s Publishing offers books based on the mobile game Plants vs. Zombies, licensed by Electronic Arts’ PopCap Games division, and together they rank as the third best-selling children’s book series overall. The publishing franchise is centered on illustrated storybooks, but includes other formats as well.
The books, which first launched in 2012, are written by a group of popular local authors. Several observers have credited the combination of global imagery and a distinct Chinese voice, along with themes that parents consider positive and educational, as reasons for the success of the program.
The second U.S.-based property to make the list, as the fifth bestselling series, is Mattel’s Barbie. The rights are licensed to a private publisher, Dolphin Media, which created and printed the books and works with state-controlled Changjiang Publishing & Media to distribute them into bookstores.
The second best-selling children’s book series in China is also licensed, tied to the local property Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Children’s Fun Publishing (a joint venture with Egmont) markets the books, which are based on a long-running TV and film animation franchise produced by Creative Power Entertaining and licensed by Toon Express. Pleasant Goat has been a top licensed property across all categories for the last several years.
The other four series among the seven bestsellers are of literary origin and all have roots in China. The top-ranking franchise is Charlie IX & DoDoMo from Zhejiang Publishing, a series written by the pseudonymous author Leon Image. Its characters have appeared on merchandise such as LEGO-like toy construction sets. Image also is the author of the seventh best-selling series, Monster Masters, from Jieli Publishing House.
Rounding out the list are Diary of a Smiling Cat by Hongying Yang, from Tomorrow Publishing, at number 4, and Pipilu by Zheng Yuanjie, from 21st Century Publishing, at number 6.
The list was presented as part of an intensive half-day seminar on the Chinese children’s publishing market held in conjunction with the Global Kids Connect Conference in New York. Publishers Weekly and Bologna Fiere sponsored GKC, and Pace University’s M.S. in Publishing Program hosted the China deep dive. Publishers Weekly subscribers can find coverage of the China session here and GKC here.
The December issue of Raugust Communications’ enewsletter will highlight top licensing trends from 2015. To receive the free newsletter, which will go out next Tuesday, December 15, subscribe here. You can also sign up to receive RaugustReports every Monday and Thursday, if you have not already done so.
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