HCG signs Dreamworks licensing deal

Hodder Children’s Books, part of Hachette Children’s Group (HCG), has bought English language publishing rights to three DreamWorld licences: Noddy Toyland Detective, Dinotrux and How to Train Your Dragon.

Hodder’s licensing team led by Katie Price struck the deal with Universal Brand Development and will publish a range of titles, including sticker books, picture books, board books and activity titles. However, the publisher did not disclose the length of the licensing deal.

Anne McNeil, senior publisher at Hodder Children’s Books, said:  “A key part of our licensing strategy at the Hachette Children’s Group is to become a home for well-known brands, so we’re extremely excited by the addition of these DreamWorks licenses for the Hodder Children’s imprint.”

Hodder, which already publishes Enid Blyton’s series such as The Famous Five and Malory Towers, will now release books to tie-in with a new Noddy Toyland Detective TV series now showing on Channel. The series will kick off with Noddy Toyland Detective: Fun with Friends Sticker Activity and Noddy Toyland Detective: Picture Book in October 2016 with a full range to follow in 2017.

The publisher is also planning a range of books based on the Netflix animated series Dinotrux, and a series of early readers about Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Hodder is also the publisher of the original How to Train Your Dragon books, written by Cressida Cowell.