Random House Announces Upcoming Slate Of Books Based On Nickelodeon Properties

Publishers Weekly is reporting the exciting Nick News in the following article that Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids and families, and Random House, the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world, have announced that Random House are planning to publish a raft of brand-new books based on popular Nickelodeon properties, including "Dora and Friends: Into the City!", "Blaze and the Monster Machines", "Dora the Explorer" and "SpongeBob SquarePants"!

As part of the book publishers 2014-2015 publishing slate, Random House will publish six book titles based on Nickelodeon Preschool's brand-new animated preschool series "Dora and Friends: Into the City!", a spin-off of "Dora The Explorer", including Little Golden Books, readers, 8x8s, and a Big Golden Book. Random House will also continue to publish titled inspired by "Dora the Explorer". "The two complement each other," said Paula Allen, Nickelodeon's Senior Vice President (SVP) of global publishing. "This is a way to extend Dora the Explorer as her fans grow up. Both brands can live side by side, both on air and on shelf." "Dora and Friends: Into the City!", a brand-new animated preschool series starring the Latina heroine in new adventures, with new friends and a new interactive curriculum, premieres in primetime on Monday 18th August 2014 at 8:00pm (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon USA!

Additionally, Random House will also debut merchandise based on "Paw Patrol", with books and toys being the first products on the market, plus titles tied to Nickelodeon's upcoming brand-new animated preschool series "Blaze and the Monster Machines", which will premiere on Nick USA in October 2014. Titles will start to roll out in Spring 2015, marking Nickelodeon's first TV-based licensing and publishing program to hit retail less than a year after the debut of a show. Random House also plans a novelization and other tie-in titles for the upcoming Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures film "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D", set to be released in theaters and cinemas everywhere next year on Friday 6th February 2015:

Dora Moves to the City

Nickelodeon is launching a new TV series, Dora & Friends: Into the City, in August. It gives an older Dora human friends and a prosocial, team-building focus, as opposed to the animal friends and emphasis on discovery featured in original Dora the Explorer series. Random House is publishing six titles, including Little Golden Books, readers, 8x8s, and a Big Golden Book, for the new incarnation.

Dora the Explorer will continue, and Random House will still publish against that show as well. “The two complement each other,” said Paula Allen, Nickelodeon’s senior v-p of global publishing. “This is a way to extend Dora the Explorer as her fans grow up. Both brands can live side by side, both on air and on shelf.”

Random House is also debuting books tied to a number of other Nickelodeon franchises and new shows. Paw Patrol, a series t hat premiered last fall about a pack of six puppies that undertake rescue missions, will spur a list similar to that for Dora; books and toys will be the first products on the market. Titles tied to Blaze, a STEM-themed, monster truck-centered show for preschoolers that launches this October, will start to roll out in spring 2015, marking Nickelodeon’s first TV-based licensing and publishing program to hit retail less than a year after the debut of a show. Random House also plans a novelization and other tie-in titles for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 3D, to premiere in February 2015.

Meanwhile, Random House and other publishers are gearing up for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which debuts August 8. Random will publish a novelization and junior novelization tied to the film, but more important, Allen said, the movie will serve as a platform to market the multitude of Turtles TV tie-ins from Random House, IDW, Bendon, Publications International, Studio Fun, and Phidal. In June, Insight Editions published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History, a coffee table book covering four eras of the Turtles.

---

Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon Publishing News!