Kids Today
What's in a household name?
Many niche publishers dedicated to courting child consumers have also had to reconsider how to print and package new book products to compete in a market saturated with brand names.
Underdown notes, "There are a number of ways to create a children's book brand name: Dr. Seuss became a brand name because his books were so consistently good and easily recognizable. Arthur has become a brand name after the success of the TV series based on the book. The Little House on the Prairie has recently and quite deliberately been developed into a brand by HarperCollins (www.harpercollins.com). Celebrities from Shaquille O'Neal to Mary Chapin Carpenter may write or lend their name(s) to children's books. Houghton Mifflin (www.houghtonmifflin.com) has commissioned writers and illustrators to create new Curious George books, to extend another 'classic' brand name."