Occupational Hazard

While signing autographs at New York Comic Con 2008, Edgar & Ellen's illustrator, Rick Carton, got a dose of the pranking he invents. An 11-year-old fan named Jason popped him in the face with a whipped cream pie. Rick's brother (and Jason's co-conspirator), TV writer, Billy Carton had an Edgarish look as he laughed in the background.

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Top Kids Picturebooks

Check out the top-15 children's picture books sold in the US over the week of April 21, courtesy of our friends at Publishers Weekly.

Colleen's Clue for Kid Marketers: Notice how many titles include rhymes!

1. Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder, Workman, US$12.95.

2. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems, Hyperion, US$14.99

3. Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy, HarperCollins, US$16.99

4. Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly by Jane O'Connor, HarperCollins, US$16.99

5. Don't Bump the Glump! And Other Fantasies by Shel Silverstein, HarperCollins, US$17.99

6. Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems, Hyperion, US$16.99

7. The Jellybeans and the Big Dance by Laura Numeroff, Abrams, US$15.95

8. Smash Crash! by Jon Scieszka, Simon & Schuster, US$16.99

9. Zen Ties by Jon J. Muth, Scholastic Press, US$17.99

10. Alphabet by Matthew Van Fleet and Brian Stanton, Simon & Schuster/Wiseman, US$19.99.

11. My Dog May Be a Genius by Jack Prelutsky and James Stevenson, Greenwillow, US$18.99

12. First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Roaring Brook/Porter, US$14.95

13. Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy by Matthew Reinhart, Orchard US$32.99.

14. Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantasical World Around you by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, Simon & Schuster, US$24.99

15. Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, HarperCollins, US$16.99.

Used with permission, copyright Publishers Weekly 2008; a full listing in all categories can be found at www.publishersweekly.com.

Hello, Sweden!

Nickelodeon Nordic just put some Edgar & Ellen games on their site and suddenly Sweden, Norway and Finland jumped to the top 10 countries sending fans to http://edgarandellen.com Number eleven? Why, Denmark.

Never underestimate the power of casual games! The one that's getting the most play is Pet Soccer, featuring Pet, the beloved hairy eyeball as the soccer ball.

Beancake man and the cult of cute

In Japan, "Kawaii" warms the hearts of the teen girl in everyone. The Kawaii icon is an adult-type cute--softy, cuddly, innocent, "like a baby bulldog" says Tokyo-based licensing agent, Jim Weatherford. "Hello Kitty!" reigns as the quintessential example, but Ampanman (named after a cute bean cake) is still sweeping Japan.

Western characters, Miffy and Snoopy qualify. How could you make your product as ineffably adorable?

Girls multiply sales

In last month's Shop-along, three girls (each with $20 to spend) made identical purchases including pens, St. Patrick's Day hats and Play-Doh. POP aimed at girls would do well to reflect and encourage that propensity.

Pushing the right POP buttons

In last week's Shop-Alongs for KidSay, Ali Pohn, noted that boys headed straight for the toy section and especially responded to anything that moved, could be punched, bounced or pushed. The girls tended to wander more and pay attention to signage that to showed what was in the departments. The cuter the better, like this Peeps daisy signifying the Easter candy section.

Martha Barletta's book, "Marketing to Women" has similar observations to make about how men and women shop for a white shirt and a black dress. Men head directly to the shirts, women check everything in between and around the dresses.

Kids properties to watch

A friend of mine wrote from Atlanta to ask what properties were catching my eye in the kid world. Here's my quick reply:

-Yo Gabba Gabba for very young kids, is super hot

-In books it's The Twilight Saga — huge with teens, now I'm hearing adults talking about reading it

-Worth keeping an eye on: Word World (animals are formed from the letters that spell their names) on PBS

-Pirates of the Caribbean, the Massively Multiplayer Online Game from Disney is getting kids and adults who aren't quite geeky or devoted enough for World of Warcraft

-AddictingGames.com draws bunches of boys

-I guess I have to mention HS the Musical and Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, but I know you know them already