He has traversed every continent in contemporary times, zipped back to prior eras to hobnob with dinosaurs, Vikings and Greek gods and crisscrossed the globe helping Santa deliver presents. This tireless world traveler is Felix, the amiable toy rabbit who, with his young owner, Sophie, stars in a handful of bestselling picture books from Abbeville Press.
The creation of author Annette Langen and illustrator Constanza Droop, Felix made his 1994 debut in Letters from Felix: A Little Rabbit on a World Tour, in which he proves himself a faithful correspondent, keeping Sophie informed of his whereabouts through letters that are tucked into life-size envelopes glued to the book's pages. In the subsequent Felix Travels Back in Time and Felix Explores Planet Earth, the rabbit pens additional missives about his adventures. Sales of these three volumes, plus a tie-in paperback activity book, now total more than 500,000 copies.
This figure will soon need updating, as 100,000 copies of Felix's latest epic, Felix's Christmas Around the World, have recently rolled off the press. Abbeville editor Owen Dugan reported that this tale of the lucky rabbit's encounter with the big man in red -- packaged with a velveteen, child-sized Santa's hat with Felix's name stitched on it -- has advanced extremely well. Each of the earlier Felix books also included a merchandise item -- a selection of travel stickers, a fold-out timeline or a wall chart featuring a map of the world -- in addition to the facsimiles of Felix's letters.
These "extras" add considerably to the books' appeal, observed Dugan, recalling the widespread in-house enthusiasm for Langen's initial Felix tale when Abbeville publisher Bob Abrams presented the project, which he purchased from German publisher Coppenrath Verlag, to his staff. "We all were impressed with the book's many angles," he said, "including the likable characters of Felix and Sophie, the novelty of the letters, the educational aspect and the supporting merchandise. Everyone here fell in love with this book immediately."
Not long after the first Felix title appeared, four years ago, with a 20,000-copy first printing, it became apparent that youngsters shared this enthusiasm. After numerous reprintings, Letters from Felix now has more than 200,000 copies in print, making it Abbeville's bestselling children's book ever. In addition to delivering lessons about history, geography and various cultural traditions, Langen's books inspire kids to imitate Felix's favorite method of communication: in the past year alone, Abbeville has received 20,000 letters addressed to this peripatetic rabbit from his young fans.
Letters stream in from Felix's not-so-young devotees as well. Dugan noted that the company receives "continual feedback" from teachers describing the ways they have used these books in their classroom. Several have reported sending stuffed Felix-like rabbits on trips with parents or families, who make sure that the Felix look-alike sends postcards back to the school, sometimes passing the toy along to other travelers who do the same. Teachers have also been known to track the rabbit's itinerary on maps posted in their classrooms.
The appeal of the Felix titles to educators is not incidental; Abbeville works closely with the German publisher to develop the factual content and, in some cases, Dugan said, "we have rearranged the material in our edition so that the books are more appropriate to the historical curriculum here and are in synch with what our schools teach. These books may be full of sugar on the surface, but there is medicine inside."
Spreading the Word
Fortunate Felix followers may actually cross his path -- or that of a Felix imposter dressed in one of the costumes Abbeville has had fashioned in the rabbit's likeness. "There are five Felix character costumes, four making the rounds in this country, and the fifth is based in Singapore," said Jennifer Pierson, v-p of sales and marketing, who called the costumes "the cornerstone of our promotion for these books. It's incredible to see how excited kids get when they catch sight of Felix in bookstores or at book fairs. It's gratifying to see that we've been able to build recognition for Felix in a relatively short period of time."
Sally Jordan, owner of Jeremy's Books and Toys in suburban Houston, and likely one of the most ardent adult fans of the costumed Felix, hosted the furry rabbit two years ago. "We've had some adorable costumes visit the store," she said, "but this is the cutest costume I have ever seen. Felix was such a hit at our store that I'm having him visit again next spring."
To further feed the Felix frenzy, Abbeville has created activity kits for in-store events, featuring posters, pencils, balloons and activity sheets. Available to accounts ordering 16 or more Felix titles is an inflatable globe to put on display or use as a raffle prize. Abbeville has produced a new five-copy counter display, complete with a Felix Santa hat wrapped around it, to help promote the holiday release.
Young readers can feel for themselves just how cuddly Felix is, if they're lucky enough to get their hands on one of the 35" plush toys, produced in Germany and distributed in the U.S. by Abbeville. A new, slightly smaller Christmas version, sporting a Santa hat, shipped in October. The publisher is also marketing Felix wrapping paper, and Dugan reported that Abbeville will soon be offering additional tie-in merchandise, including watches, rabbit-shaped plush backpacks and purses.
Felix next appears on the pages of a book in the spring, in which he helps preschoolers get the hang of telling time in Felix: What Time Is It? And Felix can also be seen on his own Web site: www.abbeville.com/felix/.
