NEWS

Book series that educates children through classic literature BabyLit jumps into licensing with ThinkTank Emporium

Published on: 30th January 2020

The US book publishing house Gibbs Smith has partnered with The ThinkTank Emporium to begin development on an animated series and licensing programme for its bestselling babyLit and Little Leonardo book series.

Written by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Alison Oliver, the BabyLit classics series consists of 30 board books aimed at kids from birth to three years old. It aims to teach developmental concepts through the lens of classic literature.

Take, for example, Pride and Prejudice. The book helps children count to ten through plot developments of the novel, beginning with One English Village, Four Marriage Proposals, Nine Ballgowns, and Ten Thousand Pounds.

Throughout the series, quotes from the original classics are often included next to the concepts. The BabyLit classic series extends to gift merchandise as well with totes, buttons, dolls, puzzles, and a memory matching game.

The BabyLit series currently has more than 50 titles in print, and over 2 million copies in sales. The books have been extremely popular at all levels of retail, including Costco, Target, Barnes & Noble, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many independent bookstores and gift shops.

Meanwhile, the Little Leonardo Series teaches STEAM concepts to kids aged four to eight, focusing on how STEAM affects every day life and introducing real life examples of STEAM heroes from history.

“People are realising that it’s never too young to start putting things in front of toddlers that are a little more meaningful, that have more levels,” said Suzanne Gibbs Taylor, creator of the BabyLit series and publisher/chief creative officer at Gibbs Smith.

“After the success of our books, the natural extension of the brand is to explore television opportunities. We are very excited to see what can be developed for BabyLit.”

Announcement of the partnership was made jointly by David Wollos and Joan Luks for The ThinkTank Emporium and Gibbs Smith, Publisher.

“We are pleased to be working with Gibbs Smith to bring the BabyLit and Little Leonardo series to a global audience via media platforms and licensed product opportunities. The sheer potential in all these areas for these properties is a wonderful asset for ThinkTank and its strategic relationship with Gibbs Smith,” said Wollos.

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