Cranium and Little, Brown Announce Publishing Deal
Posted on March 4, 2005
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Cranium, creators of the popular Cranium games, have announced a joint publishing venture that will bring the Cranium concept to a line of books for children. The program will launch in September 2005 with the release of The Cranium Big Book of Outrageous Fun. The publishing program will continue in 2006 with eight new Cranium titles and new book projects each season thereafter.
"We are thrilled to be working with Cranium," said David Ford, Publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. "For years Cranium games have given children and adults so many opportunities to laugh, connect with one another, and shine. We couldn't be more excited to join Cranium in their transition into the world of publishing."
"This is the first time we've taken the Cranium brand beyond the game aisle, so it was very important to us to select a partner with the same pioneering spirit that launched our company and still fuels the business today," said Richard Tait, Cranium's CEO. "The people at Little, Brown share our passion for innovation and creativity, and they weren't afraid to try something that had never been done before. The result of our first collaboration is an incredible fusion of two mediums for an outrageously fun 'book-in-a-game-in-a-book' experience. I'm thrilled that The Cranium Big Book of Outrageous Fun is going to give kids so many opportunities to shine."
The Cranium Big Book of Outrageous Fun (Little, Brown; September 2005; $19.99; Ages 7 and up) contains many activities like the following:
- What smells? "Hold the Mold" invites kids to check out the grossest stuff in their fridge and make scientific observations.
- What can you do in a minute? Can you jiggle all the doorknobs in your house? Count to 100? How about counting to 100 backwards? This activity encourages kids to discover what they can do in less than a minute.
- Ever look out the window and make up stories about what you see? "Out the Window" inspires kids to draw the world around them, create their own stories and imagine worlds of their own.
The new Cranium book is also the lead title in Little, Brown's new imprint, LB Kids, which will feature interactive novelty books. For over 160 years, Little, Brown has produced many children's classics including Jerry Spinelli's Newbery Medal winner Maniac Magee and the Newbery-Honor book Mr. Poppers Penguins as well as Marc Brown's bestselling Arthur Adventure series. Most recently Little, Brown has brought to the market The New York Times bestselling Gossip Girl series and the Megan Tingley Books imprint had two National Book Award Finalists with Luna by Julie Anne Peters and Harlem Stomp! by Laban Carrick Hill. This spring, Little, Brown will publish the young reader debuts of notable adult authors James Patterson, Walter Mosley and David Baldacci.