London, UK —  Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House Children’s UK), together with their North American licensing agent, Licensing Works!® are celebrating an increased presence for Spot in North America following a series of exciting new activations.

2020 marks the 40th anniversary of Where’s Spot? the original lift-the-flap picture book by Eric Hill that introduces children to new experiences, friendship and play in a fun and gentle way.

Licensing Works!® has appointed a range of new Spot licensees for North America this year, including plush from Commonwealth, which launched in August, followed by Smiffy’s Spot Dress-up costumes, which launched in September. Commonwealth will be expanding their range in 2021 to add a wider range of plush and a full range of wooden toys and puzzles.  Crown Jewlz, the newest licensee, will launch with colouring and activity workbooks and flash cards in 2021.

Licensing Works!® and Penguin Ventures have also launched a partnership with Read Alliance to support the growing presence of Spot in North America.  This New York-based tutoring organization works to help underprivileged students learn to read. With Spot celebrating his 40th Anniversary and Read Alliance celebrating its 20th, the organisations are working together on a series of co-branded social media and on-line communications, which launched in September and will continue through the end of the year.

Spot’s 40th Anniversary will also be celebrated in North America with a dedicated “Snuggle Up with Spot” influencer campaign later this year.  Spot fans will be asked to share photographs of their favourite moments with Spot as we move into the winter months, on social media.

Lindsay Pearl, Head of International Licensing, Penguin Ventures said: “We are so proud of the incredible success Licensing Works!® have achieved to introduce best in class licensees to the Spot family.  We are now able to offer our North American fans the chance to cuddle up to Spot with this fantastic new range of merchandise.  2021 will present some more brilliant opportunities for Spot and we can’t wait to see how fans respond to these activities.”

“There is great momentum on the Spot brand, with Spot book sales increasing year on year in 2020, making this the perfect time to bring to market a wonderful new assortment of Spot products that help children discover and explore the world around them with Spot, their trusted friend,” enthused Leslie Levine, Owner and Founder of Licensing Works!®

About Spot
Eric Hill’s loveable puppy, Spot, has been an integral part of early childhood since he first appeared in the classic lift-the-flap storybook Where’s Spot? in 1980.  A firm favourite with pre-schoolers, Spot’s toddler-like behaviour introduces children to new experiences, friendship and play in a fun and gentle way.  Spot has been translated into over 60 languages including Dutch, Finnish, Italian and Korean and even has a braille edition.  The series has sold over 65 million books worldwide.
Puffin (Penguin Random House Children’s) continues to publish an extensive range of new Spot titles and formats every year whilst Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House) manages a successful Spot licensing programme.  From infant apparel; plush and wooden toys; paper and audio products and a live events programme, families can enjoy shared experiences with their favourite puppy through a range of different activities and experiences.

About Penguin Ventures
Stories have always been at the heart of Penguin Random House.  Penguin Ventures was created to bring together the Licensing, Consumer Products, TV Production, Retail, Exhibitions and Live events strategies and to find new ways to tell the world’s favourite stories.   Penguin Ventures manages a portfolio of licensed literary brands and characters together with an archive of original art.  For many years, those characters lived mainly in books, but now they are providing the magic and wonder for all kinds of different consumer products, media and experiences, going beyond the book to tell the complete story.  Penguin Ventures is part of Penguin Random House Children’s UK.