If you have a pre-schooler in the house then it’s more than likely that you are familiar with Bluey, the adorable and highly energetic six-year-old Brisbane blue heeler who makes sure that every day is an adventure!
It’s easy to see why this character is so appealing to young people and earlier in the week this was reaffirmed when the first book in the Bluey collection, Bluey: The Beach, won “Picture Book of the Year” at the Australian Book Industry Awards. Most amazingly of all, this book also won the coveted “Book of the Year”, the very first time that a picture book has held this honour.
This comes on top of the TV show winning “Most Outstanding Children’s Program” at the 2019 Logies.
Made in Brisbane by Ludo Studio and written by Joe Brumm, known for his work on Charlie and Lola, the 7-minute-long cartoon first appeared on ABC Kids TV in October 2018 and ever since this loveable dog has been a phenomenal success.
Bluey has taken the coveted position of being the most watched TV program ever on ABC iview,with over 90 million plays and has also topped the Australian iTunes Kids Chart with the series peaking at #1 and consistently remaining in the Top 5. They have also just signed a global deal with the Disney Network so there are a lot more Bluey fans on the way!
In response to the overwhelming demand for books and toys since the show began Bluey made the transition from screen to page on 5 November 2019. Initially two board books were released, The Beach and Fruit Bat, which are based on the TV series and use the narrative format to highlight and explore key moments from the show while capturing the humour and energy that children and parents enjoy so much.
At the time of this first release Holly Toohey, Head of Brands, Partnerships and Audio at Penguin Random House said ‘Penguin Random House is thrilled to be joining the Bluey family. Like the rest of Australia, everyone in the company has fallen head over blue heeler for Bluey, Bingo, Bandit and Chilli. To work with such exceptional home-grown content is an honour and we can’t wait to channel the humour, emotion and refreshing family dynamics of the show into a diverse and exciting range of books’,
Now there is a wide range of Bluey books, including board books and activity books. Congratulations to Bluey, and everyone on the team who has brought this lovable character to Australian readers. We love Bluey!
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