Help! Author of Edgar & Ellen missing.

Chicago, IL September 10, 2008

The Missing Author department of Simon & Schuster has put out the call for help in locating the lost Edgar & Ellen author and the manuscript for his next book.

On the eve of the publication of, Hot Air, the kick-off book in Edgar & Ellen's second series, Charles Ogden has disappeared leaving nothing but a small scrap of paper with two odd words (it's reproduced in the back of the book along with the publisher's urgent plea).

Where is he? Will the second manuscript ever be found? Is there evil afoot or does the name of the new series eerily portend a long and arduous voyage?

The second Edgar & Ellen book series is called "The Nodyssey."

Intrepid sleuths may want to check http://edgarandellen.com/missingauthor/

Growing fans

I posted this little girl's picture a couple of years ago to underscore kids' intense love of color. (Oct. 2006 "Let them eat bright colors"). See how she's grown!

She was also one of Edgar & Ellen's young US fans while her father was working here. Now she's back in her native Holland. Her mother reports that she still watches Edgar & Ellen which now plays on Nickelodeon Benelux. I notice that the Fan Forum also has fans whose spelling is improving, whose writing is becoming more precise and whose attention spans are getting longer(they're still wacky).

What keeps fans in the fold? Here are theories: Varied humor (from silly pratfalls to clever pranks). Layered storytelling. Never talking down to them. Multimedia access. The ability to influence the content. The chance to add your own plots and characters to the story-world.

NY Licensing Show starts tomorrow!

I'm packing my wheelie in anticipation. Last time I went was in 2005 when I was disappointed in the lack of originality: Hello Kitty!, Barbie, Marvel Superheroes, same old stuff--except Chronicles of Narnia which had many people scratching their heads. Would it work? It was religious after all.

But it's doing fine--another in the trend toward literary properties for kids.

I'm taking the twins, Edgar & Ellen who, with eight books under their jammies, are beginning their licensing journey outside the US.

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.

To see the whole picture, visit:

http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=23177

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.

Twin wins for Edgar & Ellen at Elan Awards

The mischievous twins sneaked off with two top prizes at Canada's Elan Awards, winning both Best Art Direction and Best Series.

Their Valentine’s Special “Crushed” (in which Edgar’s heart is temporarily broken) won the award entitled “Best Production Design or Art Direction” which may have helped mend his heart. But if it didn’t, Edgar and his identical twin sister Ellen should be celebrating the fact that they took the Seven Group Award for Best Animated Production – Television Series.

For me the real prizes come in the hundreds of emails from kids on http://edgarandellen.com, like this one from 10 year old Sara, last week, "Hello, I really like your cartoons and your books! At first Isaw alot of people reading it, and I wondered if it was as good as people said it was. I really like Pet because he is so ugly he's cute, sneaky, and mysterious."

Watch for more book back-matter

DVD's provide their "making of" bonuses and funny outtakes, websites provide secret material that's unlocked by codes. Until recently, books just ended with "The End." Now publishing is catching on and catching up. The surge of Book Club questions and author interviews after the final sentence attests to it.

Edgar & Ellen books provided a hidden code that led readers to the site. 39 Clues will take you on a multimedia quest.

I predict that the popularity of our next series, Kaimira Code, will hinge largely on the mysterious back matter that provides coded messages, an unfinished manuscript and a lost diary.

Keep an eye out for a growing trend in intiguing, fragmentary content--the end after the end...

Kids are quick, sales follow

It astounded me to see how a 1.5 second appearance of a previously unadvertised book within a sweepstakes commercial made an immediate difference in its Amazon sales rank. Edgar & Ellen's Mischief Manual had previously ranked last among the Edgar & Ellen books but it flew to the top during the promotion period. It was briefly mentioned as part of a prize package for an Edgar & Ellen Party in a Box on Nicktoons Network.

More proof that today's kids have an uncanny ability to grasp visual information at high speeds. Maybe auditory, too.

Edgar & Ellen treats at Target

Here's candy with a twinkle in its eye in a Colorado Target store. Edgar & Ellen mad lab beakers, test tubes, dissectible gummi frogs, even hairy-eyeball candy buckets honoring Edgar & Ellen's pet, "Pet" make Halloween a little more humorous.

Edgar & Ellen began as a book series--but come October 7th, it will also be a TV series on Nicktoons Network.

Universal tweens

While in London, I visited a family in Hammersmith Barnes: 11-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister--lovely, sociable kids living with a single Anglo-Guyanese mother.

They were perfect tweens. The boy loved his Wii, the Simpsons, soccer stars, and Playstation.The girl loved her iPod, Ashlee Simpson, Brittany Spears, Jamelia and Hannah Montana.

I offered them an Edgar & Ellen "Rare Beasts" Book. The boy's eyes lighted up. "I LOVE them!" He said. He had found Edgar & Ellen's "Under Town" and "High Wire" in his school library.

Now I'm crossing my fingers that Edgar joins Bart in his heart. And that his mainstream tastes predict that the twins will catch the big tween wave.

Edgar & Ellen's April Fools' Day Prankemonium!

Woohoo! I just got back from New York where they told me that Nicktoons Network will celebrate Edgar & Ellen in a big way on April Fools' Day.

Not only will they premiere our "Nobody's Fools" special--but they intend to run each of the other four specials, too. I'll let you figure out their seasons by their titles: "Accept No Substitutes," "Trick or Twins," "Cold Medalists," "Crushed."

The mishcievous pranksters series will debut in August.

Is it wishful thinkig or do I detect a new trend brewing?

High-tech user-generated content

Props to "YukaHotanashi" a young YouTuber who has practically created an Edgar & Ellen network of her own. Check out at least a dozen of her creations--mixing eclectic music, inspired editing and a wry sense of humor.

Low-tech user-generated content

User-generated content is the present and future of kids' entertainment and marketing. Bloggers and YouTubers know. But so, evidently, do spray painters. Full disclosure: Graffiti Jam was hosted by Terracycle, who makes plant fertilizer from worm poop. Edgar & Ellen partner with their in-school recycling program called "Bottle Brigade."

Sparkles and muscles

Face painting at Chicago's 57th Street Book Festival provided a great reminder of what kids like.

The picture was always Edgar & Ellen's pet, "Pet" a one-eyed fur-ball of indeterminate gender. 93% of all children preferred sparkles. But a few of the older boys were hesitant to get painted until they saw Pet on this impressive arm.

"I want one just like the strong guy!"

Superheroes come in all shapes and styles.