Scholastic has signed on as the publisher for Skibidi Toilet, a humorous sci-fi series on YouTube. Since its launch in 2023, the property has become a viral meme, spurring a plethora of third-party content generation. Its main YouTube channel now has more than 45 million subscribers, while its universe of official and user-generated content totals 110 million subscribers and tens of billions of views. The first books will come out this fall.
Skibidi Toilet was created by Alexey Gerasimov (known as Boom!) and is licensed by Invisible Narratives. Featuring a Machinima animation style created with a video game graphics engine, it is about a war in which villainous alien toilets with human heads emerging from the bowls are fighting an alliance of humanoid warriors with electronic devices as heads who are trying to prevent humanity’s extinction.
“When we first started hearing about it, we thought, what are they talking about?” Debra Dorfman, VP and publisher, global licensing, brands, and media at Scholastic, told PW. “It seemed like a bunch of memes. What would we do with it? The YouTube shorts are just so crazy. But we didn’t understand all of the lore behind it. We talked to the creators, and there’s so much wacky, fantastical storytelling.”
Scholastic is launching the program with three original 96-page e-books in August, October, and December, along with a fall 2025 guidebook. Those will be followed by a print novel compiling all three e-books, enhanced with additional content, in early 2026, accompanied by an adult coloring book. “This is the first time we’ve started with e-books,” Dorfman said. “We wanted to get it on the market as quickly as possible.” A graphic novel, novelty sticker book, and character encyclopedia are in development for later in 2026.
Skibidi Toilet is popular with younger kids, but Scholastic is keeping the publishing firmly in the YA realm. “It’s not scary, but it’s more sophisticated, and weird and dystopian,” she said. “It’s up to the parents to decide. They’re going crazy over it too.”
The property has inspired a range of licensed Skibidi Toilet consumer products, including collectibles and playthings from licensee Bonkers Toys. It is also being turned into a feature film by director and producer Michael Bay, who is a co-founder of Invisible Narratives.
They Did the Monster Jam
In separate licensing news, Scholastic is publishing a new range of trade books for Monster Jam, through a deal with Feld Entertainment, after seeing success with the property in its school channels. Later this year will come an original 8x8 storybook, an official guidebook, a board book with wheels, and a tabbed novelty book. Those will be joined in 2026 by another 8x8, a magnet book, and a touch-and-feel title. The sweet spot for publishing is ages four through seven.
The fact that the property has built slowly and organically over the years to become a popular family-friendly event was attractive to Scholastic, according to Dorfman. “It’s very captivating,” she said. “There are these vehicles with the huge wheels, and they’re also characters that have personalities. It’s so appealing to kids, and adults too. The toys [from Spin Master] look great and they really stand out on the shelf.”
Families often seek out signatures from the drivers at the events, and Scholastic and Feld are talking about potentially creating a special autograph book that could be exclusive to the arenas when the next tour starts in 2026.
