Scholastic Pairs with Pocket.watch for ‘JJ & Mikey’ Publishing

Scholastic is the new publishing partner for JJ & Mikey, a YouTube-centric property set in the world of Minecraft. It is owned by Maizen, a Japanese multimedia brand and YouTube gaming channel, and licensed by the streaming platform Pocket.watch, which distributes the property in the U.S.

JJ & Mikey stars animated versions of two popular Minecraft gamers, who plan and build Minecraft worlds and go on family-friendly role-play adventures. Ranking among the top gaming-related creators globally, they boast more than 22.9 million subscribers and 23 billion views (and counting) to date. Pocket.watch is expanding the property’s distribution this summer, adding platforms including Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Ryan and Friends Plus. JJ & Mikey can also be found on Roblox.

Michael Petranek, editorial director at Scholastic Trade Publishing, was familiar with JJ & Mikey through his seven-year-old son. “Once I heard that they wanted to do publishing, I thought, we have got to get this,” he said. “It’s a totally original adventure-comedy that’s really about friendship. It’s set in this amazing world where so many things can happen. And it has two great leads, one who’s a really strong gamer and one who’s kind of a beginner, so no matter who you are, you feel represented.”

The property appeals to a wide age range. “JJ & Mikey is one where the full family is engaged,” said Amanda Klecker, SVP, franchise marketing at Pocket.watch, who noted that the sweet spot for licensing and publishing will be ages six to nine.

Petranek appreciated the property’s family-friendliness. “We have such a hard time finding great properties that are appropriate for kids and teach good values, especially on platforms such as YouTube, where there’s no moderation of anything,” he said.

Scholastic’s first list, set for January 2027, will include JJ & Mikey: Penguin Rescue!, an 8x8 storybook based on an episode, as well as JJ & Mikey: Guide to Adventure, an official guidebook. A reader, graphic novel, and sticker book will come out later in the year. “A lot of the gaming content on YouTube has no plot structure, but this has plot-driven stories,” said Petranek. In addition to story-driven formats, “our guidebook will have a section on some of the greatest adventures the characters have had.” More publishing will follow in 2028 and beyond, building on the key formats introduced during the launch year.

Pocket.watch provides licensees with detailed data about consumer usage. Its Channelizer tool, for example, scans for episodes and themes where viewers are spending the most time. Scholastic’s guide includes a “who would win” section pitting protagonists against villains, which resulted from Pocket.watch data suggesting that this type of content is coming back into favor. “They’ve been a fantastic partner in many senses, but especially this one,” Petranek said. “It’s been really neat for them to share some of the things they’ve learned from the content that’s out there.”

Pocket.watch made an intentional decision to release books as the first products to market for the property, according to Klecker. A range of playthings from Bonkers Toys will follow the books in spring. A broader consumer products program thereafter is expected to include apparel, collectibles, food, and more.

Readerlink and Cottage Door Press Count on Numberblocks

Readerlink and Cottage Door Press have recently signed on as the first U.S. publishing licensees for Numberblocks, a property from U.K.-based licensor Blue Zoo that uses animated characters and music to teach number theory and math skills to kids ranging from preschoolers to young elementary students.

The property has been in the U.K. market for 10 years and was introduced in the U.S. about three years ago. The five-minute animated episodes are used by teachers in 53% of U.S. classrooms, with 90% saying they would recommend it, according to Leslie Levine, founder of Licensing Works!, Blue Zoo’s U.S. licensing agency, citing Blue Zoo research. The episodes are also available on YouTube, Netflix, and other platforms. Hand2Mind came on early as the master licensee for educational toys, and its products now rank as the top-selling brand in the preschool educational aisle, Levine said.

Readerlink will publish titles through its Silver Dolphin and Dreamtivity imprints. “I was introduced to Numberblocks through my kids,” said Kaitlyn Lockwood, associate publisher of the Silver Dolphin imprint. “They both saw it first in the classroom and then brought it home. I watched a couple episodes with them and was immediately engrossed. The show teaches math in a very catchy and visual way, and it’s so refreshing and progressive. If this were around when I was a kid, I might have become a mathematician instead of an editor! And because it’s so visual and has this interactive way of teaching, it’s a perfect opportunity for novelty formats.”

Readerlink’s first three titles are set for summer 2027 and include a magnetic playset with activity book, a classic coloring and activity title with crayons and stickers, and a music player storybook featuring a dozen of the most popular Numberblocks songs. More titles across retail channels, formats, and price points are under consideration.

Cottage Door Press, meanwhile, is publishing a value-driven 60-page activity sticker book, a deluxe reusable Write & Erase title, and Count Down to Bedtime, an 8x8 board book, all in spring 2027, followed by an electronic sound/song book and Luna StoryTime figure in fall 2027 or spring 2028. Melissa Tigges, VP of strategic initiatives, was first introduced to Numberblocks through a colleague whose nieces and nephews were fans. More recently, she was talking to the team at Hand2Mind, who suggested she consider the property. “They’ve had tremendous success with the toys at Walmart specifically, and Costco has leaned in on Numberblocks, too,” Tigges said. Both are key customers for Cottage Door.

The content also aligned well with the publisher’s mission. “It brings these foundational literacy concepts to life for little learners,” she said. “It can really be hard to teach these concepts in a fun and engaging way.” Cottage Door has been working with the property’s U.K. publishing licensee, Sweet Cherry, to understand the brand better and leverage some of its titles for the U.S. market.

Numberblocks is part of a broader Blocks Universe, which also includes Color Blocks, Alpha Blocks, and Wonder Blocks, the latter focused on sequencing and critical thinking. Both publishers are initially focusing on Numberblocks, which has the most traction in the marketplace to date, but ultimately plan to publish tie-ins to the other Blocks Universe components as well.

Separately, both Readerlink and Cottage Door Press are new Peanuts licensees. Readerlink’s Studio Fun imprint will release Merry Christmas, Snoopy for holiday 2026 and an Easter title in spring 2027, followed by a Peanuts-licensed title in the You’re My Little series in the summer. Later titles will encompass key Studio Fun formats including its Colorworld series, books with LCD screens, and possibly Movie Theater Storybooks. And Readerlink’s Thunder Bay imprint is publishing Peanuts Quotable Coloring on September 22, with six other titles planned for 2027 and 2028 including sticker books, word search/coloring titles, a crochet book, and a recipe tin.

Cottage Door Press, meanwhile, will launch a puppet book called Happiness Is... in spring 2027, followed by sound and novelty formats.

“Peanuts has multigenerational appeal, with a strong emotional connection across all ages,” said Debra Mostow Zakarin, VP of Readerlink’s Children’s Publishing Group. “It has brand recognition, of course, and it has a rare combination of an incredible heritage and continued relevance. It also has its themes of friendship and perseverance, and that sense of humor, which I think especially resonate with kids today, along with a gentle kindness that we lack in the world right now.”

That’s Not My... Licensing Program

Usborne’s infant and publishing brand, That’s Not My..., is taking the first steps to translate its successful U.K. licensing program to the U.S. market, represented by its global licensing agent, Bulldog Licensing.

“In the U.K., it’s the biggest infant publishing series in the country by some distance,” said Rob Corney, group managing director of Bulldog Licensing. “It’s universally well-known. Grandparents and friends buy this book for parents of infants and newborns, making it the number-one gifting product in its category. It’s kind of a right of passage.”

The popularity of the books led to a range of consumer products in the U.K. “Off the back of the success of the publishing, we launched the licensing program a good few years ago now,” Corney said. It includes a wide range of products, ranking as the top-selling book-based license for young children, with apparel being a key category. “It’s obvious that parents want these kinds of products, because there is that emotional connection, the screen-free element to it, and a child developmental benefit as well. And this brand is aesthetically identifiable right away.”

That’s Not My... books are distributed globally, doing particularly well in English-speaking markets. “The U.S. is an interesting territory,” Corney said. “Up until 2023, it was only distributed in specialist channels like book clubs, and nowhere in traditional retail. Then everything changed in 2023 when HarperCollins came on board as the distributor. Since then, it’s done brilliantly in places like Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, and obviously Amazon, and it always does really well in mom-and-pop stores.” That foundation has made it possible to develop a licensing program in the U.S. as well.

The agency introduced the property to potential U.S. partners at the recent Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, with lots of interest from manufacturers in apparel, plush, and other categories. While mainstream popularity has been more recent in the U.S., Corney noted that every person he spoke with was already aware of the brand, thanks to the millions of units sold since 2024. “That’s a great canvas to paint your story on,” he said.

Each page in the books has tactile or other sensory elements, as well as a little white mouse hiding on every spread. These are central elements to the licensing program as well. “We try to replicate that touchy-feely element and the little white mouse wherever we can on the apparel, with appliqués, etc.,” Corney said, noting that appliquéd apparel items see sell-through rates about 40% higher than those without appliqués. Puzzles and other products also include sensory elements, like colors, shiny or textured areas, or sounds, for example.

“There’s obviously a lot of design work that goes into creating that,” Corney said. “But the sensory element is essential to the brand itself, and getting that into the product gives it an extra dimension.”

Random House Worlds Brings Mofusand to U.S. Readers

Random House Worlds has partnered with Spiralcute International to publish books based on Mofusand, a Japanese lifestyle property that got its start as illustrations by artist Juno that were posted on social media. Centered on cats wearing costumes, with names like Shark-Meow and Sushi-Meow, it has gained exposure through retailers such as Hot Topic in the U.S. and Canada. The agreement covers all markets outside Asia.

Random House Worlds has a Slack channel where everyone at the imprint can share things they love that might translate to publishing. “Some people from our marketing and publicity department posted, ‘This cat is wearing a shark costume! Can we do anything with it?’ ” said Elizabeth Schaefer, publishing director for fiction. “That was really the genesis of it for us. It was just this deep instinctual emotional connection that we all had with the brand.”

From there, it was an easy decision to sign on. “It’s no secret that readers are looking for comfort and coziness right now,” Schaefer said. “What could be comfier than a cat with a piece of bread over its head? And it’s got this extra twist of playfulness and edge, and that little bit of transgression that sets it apart from a lot of other cute cat brands.”

The first three books, all coming out September 1, are activity-based. “You look at those doe-eyed cats and you have this visceral ‘I just want to squish it’ reaction,” Schaefer said. “So we wanted to honor that desire for interactivity with our formats.”

The initial titles include Mofusand: An Official Coloring Book, with detailed line art; the Mofusand Coffee + Donuts Journal, with dotted and blank pages and a sticker sheet; and the Mofusand Cat Café Cookbook, with recipes that put a Japanese twist on classic café menu items, such as Jammy Raspberry-Matcha Lattes and Fluffy and Soufflé-Style Pancakes. “We were intentional about not just having superficial theming to the recipes, but capturing that authentic Japanese cat café culture,” Schaefer said.

Random House Worlds is an adult imprint, and the books have adult-level sophistication, with thick, high-quality paper in the journal and coloring book and recipes designed for grown-up palates in the cookbook. But the target audience will likely extend down to about age 12, Schaefer said, adding, “There’s no age limit on adorable cats.”

In Brief

The World of Peter Rabbit licensing program, led by Penguin Ventures and its North American licensing agent, WildBrain CPLG, is expanding in the U.S. and Canada in advance of the 125th anniversary of Peter Rabbit next year. New licensees introducing products this year and next include Posh Peanut, E-Play Brands, Bentex, Scoots Baby, Komar Kids, and Children’s Apparel Network, all for clothing, as well as Blue Sky Clayworks for home goods, Paperless Post for digital stationery, and Dan Dee for plush…. Random House Children’s books released its first title based on Tales of 123, an animated segment that launched as part of Sesame Street in season 56. The action takes place inside the multistory building where many of the characters live. The initial lift-the-flap board book, Peek Inside 123 Sesame Street by Mary Man-Kong, allows young readers to explore all the rooms. More Tales of 123 publishing is planned…. Cottage Door Press has secured the publishing rights to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. A Luna Projector cartridge will debut first, followed by traditional book titles…. Worldwide Buddies is expanding its book series tied to the PBS Kids TV show Rosie’s Rules, releasing a bilingual English-Spanish board book called A Christmas-tastic Nochebuena penned by Emmy-winning preschool television writer Jennifer Hamburg, later this year…. Webtoon is introducing an original digital comic series combining Disney’s Mickey & Friends and Formula 1 as part of a broader partnership between the two licensors…. Penguin Young Readers and BBC Studios have joined with FAO Schwarz and Camp for their second annual Bluey Storytime Month in July…. Warrior Cats, the children’s fantasy book series created and licensed by Coolabi, has a new animated TV show in production with Disney Kids & Family, set for distribution on Disney+ and the Disney Channel in 2028…. Cali’s Books, a producer of interactive reading devices and associated physical book titles, retained Mix Licensing to seek out licensing opportunities for the Cali Reader (formerly InfiniBook)…. Dynowish, a book-based 360-degree universe for kids six to nine from TwelveP Animation, has launched dedicated YouTube and social media channels and added new publishers across Europe, including Editions Obelisco in Spain, Yapi Kredi in Turkey, and Eksmo in Russia. The property is based on Giunti Editore’s book series of the same name, by Paola Miriam Visconti.