Penguin has renewed its master publishing deal with BBC Studios for the hit preschool animated series Bluey. Bluey books have already sold more than 20 million copies in 22 languages worldwide, including 8.5 million in the U.S. Nielsen ranked the TV series, which streams on Disney+, as the most-streamed show in the country this year, with more than 35 billion minutes watched. It also airs on traditional television, on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
The funny, touching, and relatable Australian series follows Bluey, a Blue Heeler dog who lives with her Mum, Dad, and little sister, Bingo. “It’s just a very special show,” said Daniel Moreton, VP and publisher for brands and licenses at Penguin Workshop, who notes that the property works across every format. “We do tons of checking sales figures to extract data that could inform publishing. And the data is, it all sells well. Even the one that sells the least is still tremendous. There has been nothing so far that the fans don’t want.”
That has given the company the opportunity to try new things, at price points from $5.99 to $29.99. “We are going outside the normal formats, including some we don’t do with any of our other properties,” Moreton said. “The biggest roadblock to doing new formats is the price point, and that’s tied to print quantities. The formula doesn’t work for our other brands, but some of the traditional rules don’t apply to Bluey.” He cites the example of Bluey: Awesome Advent Book Bundle, a $29.99 interactive advent calendar filled with 24 Bluey mini-books that started selling as soon as preorders began and was almost sold out by October 1. “It’s not a small price point,” he said.
Other unique formats range from a small paperback chapter book series with a slightly different art style that features a black-and-white, “sort of cartoony, graphic novel look” to Bluey: Bartlebee’s First Christmas by Bluey creator Joe Brumm and Emily Baulch, a new format filled with five holiday surprises including a jigsaw puzzle, board game, and ornaments. “We’re expanding a lot quicker within the lifecycle of the brand than we usually would, to meet the demand in the market,” Moreton said. Meanwhile, traditional licensed formats like 8x8s and paper-over-board storybooks are also going strong. All told, Penguin Young Readers in the U.S. publishes about 35 titles a year for Bluey.
Two titles this year became New York Times bestsellers. The picture book Bluey: Sleepytime, by Joe Brumm, was on the picture book list for 32 straight weeks, including two weeks in the top slot. The other, Love from Bluey by Suzy Brumm, was a brand-new story not tied to an episode. “We wanted to make sure it was still Bluey, not overly sentimental but a real depiction of love through the trials and tribulations of a day,” Moreton said.
In part due to the success of Love from Bluey, Penguin is taking the brand into more books that are extensions of the show rather than being episode-based, ranging from original stories to novelty titles with features like touch-and-feel elements and sliders. “Love from Bluey paved the way for more of that,” said Moreton.
Books for adults might even be in the future at some point. The TV series has wide appeal, attracting an audience of not only young children but also parents, who view Bluey’s Mum and Dad almost as parenting role models, and young adults without kids, who find the show funny and comforting. “It’s come up quite a few times, both within the company and from outside, such as sales reps,” Moreton said. “A Bluey book on parenting would be the obvious one. It would need to be done with the creators’ involvement. It’s not on the docket yet, but there is definitely a demand for it and a need for it.”
Penguin Random House’s renewed deal gives it rights for all languages in the U.K., U.S., and the rest of the world outside of Australia, New Zealand, and China, where PRH publishing houses maintain separate contracts. The show, books, and licensed products have seen similar success in markets all around the world.
The show debuted in Australia in 2018 and the U.S. in 2019. Bluey is produced by Ludo Studio for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and BBC Studios Kids & Family, which holds global distribution and merchandise rights.
