THIS IS THE KMN BLOG

The website you are visiting today is the editorial blog of the KMN newsroom and the first public window into the wider Kids Media News project.

Here our editorial team publishes a curated selection of the most relevant news, articles, market analysis, industry insights and in-depth stories from across the international kids media business.

We follow publishing, animation, licensing, streaming, comics, manga, webtoons, digital platforms, artificial intelligence, education, entertainment technology, international rights, companies, people, events and emerging IP.

The KMN Blog is designed to provide professionals with a clear and independent view of an industry that is becoming increasingly global, interconnected and driven by intellectual property.

FROM THE BLOG TO A GLOBAL MEDIA ECOSYSTEM

The editorial platform is only the beginning.

The wider KMN project is being developed around a growing ecosystem that will include KMN Magazine, KMN Intelligence, industry reports and indexes, company and IP directories, international rankings, special publications, events and professional networking tools.

KMN Magazine will provide a deeper editorial experience, with each issue dedicated to the major transformations affecting the industry: global streaming platforms, the evolution of kids IP, publishing and animation strategies, licensing, international markets, technology and the new geography of children's entertainment.

KMN Intelligence will go further, transforming information into practical knowledge through research, data, market reports and analysis.

Our objective is simple: to help professionals see the industry as a whole.

ONE INDUSTRY. ONE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.

A children's book can become an animated series.
An animation can become a global licensing property.
A webtoon can become a television franchise.
A game can generate publishing, consumer products and entertainment experiences.

The boundaries between industries are disappearing.

That is why KMN does not look at publishing, animation, streaming, licensing or digital media as separate worlds.

We look at the business of IP.

And we look at the people and companies building its future.

KMN – Kids Media News
The Global Hub for Kids Entertainment, Media and IP Business.

KMN Blog is your window on the industry.
KMN World is the bigger picture.

The Global Kids Media Economy: Where the Industry Is Heading in 2027

The children's entertainment business is undergoing a structural transformation as publishing, animation, gaming, streaming and licensing converge around intellectual property.

Slug: global-kids-media-economy-2027
Tags: Kids Media, Children's Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Licensing, Publishing, Animation, Streaming, Gaming, Global Market, 2027 Trends

From content chains to IP ecosystems

The children's entertainment business is entering a new phase. Publishing, animation, streaming, gaming and licensing are still distinct industries, but the most valuable properties increasingly move through all of them. The strategic asset at the centre is intellectual property: a character, world or story that can create attachment across formats and territories.

The old model was relatively linear: a book was published, a programme was broadcast, a toy was licensed and each business measured its own success. The emerging model is circular. A book can create a screen opportunity; a screen adaptation can reactivate publishing; a game can introduce a new audience; licensing can keep the property visible between releases; experiences can turn fandom into a physical relationship.

Idea → IP → Community → Multiple Platforms → Licensing → Experiences → Global Franchise

The market is already signalling convergence

Licensing International reported $389.8 billion in global retail sales of licensed merchandise and services in 2025, up 5.45% year on year. Character and Entertainment remained the largest property type at $161.8 billion. These figures do not represent the whole kids media economy, but they show how valuable audience attachment becomes once a property moves beyond its original format.

At the same time, the Bologna Children's Book Fair has continued to build infrastructure connecting publishing with television, film, games and licensing. Its TV/Film Rights Centre facilitated more than 600 matchmaking meetings in 2025, after more than 400 in its debut year. That is more than a trade-fair detail: it reflects an industry in which publishers increasingly meet producers before a property has finished travelling through its first medium.

Attention is the scarce resource

The abundance of content has changed the economics of children's media. Production capacity is no longer the only barrier. The harder problem is being discovered and remembered. Nielsen's first-half 2026 U.S. streaming data illustrates the durability of trusted kids properties: Bluey generated 22.8 billion minutes of viewing, SpongeBob SquarePants 16.9 billion and PAW Patrol 13.6 billion. SpongeBob also ranked strongly with adults 18–34, demonstrating how kids IP can become cross-generational.

The strategic question for 2027 is therefore not simply how much content companies can produce. It is how efficiently they can create, identify and scale properties that audiences want to revisit.

Asia is reshaping the map

Japan's anime economy, Korea's webtoon platforms and China's scale in publishing and licensing have made the global flow of IP increasingly multidirectional. Western companies are no longer simply exporting children's content to Asia. They are acquiring, adapting, licensing and learning from Asian formats, production models and fandom systems.

The next competitive advantage

KMN sees five forces defining the next phase: stronger ownership of underlying IP; earlier international thinking; direct audience data; transmedia development; and sustainable use of AI and technology. Companies that can connect creative judgement with rights strategy and audience intelligence will be better positioned than those organized around a single format.

KMN Outlook

The global kids media economy is becoming an IP economy. The winners will not necessarily be the companies producing the greatest number of books, episodes or apps. They will be the companies that build the strongest long-term relationship between stories and audiences — then give that relationship multiple ways to grow.

Sources

 Licensing International — Global Licensing Survey

 Bologna Children's Book Fair — TV/Film Rights Centre

 Nielsen — Streaming Landscape 2026

ARTICLE | MARKET INTELLIGENCE / LICENSING

The $389.8 Billion Licensing Economy — And Why Kids IP Is at Its Center

Global licensing reached $389.8 billion in 2025. Behind the record lies a structural transformation in how characters, fandom and IP create value.

Slug: 389-billion-global-licensing-economy-kids-ip
Tags: Licensing, Kids Licensing, Intellectual Property, Character Licensing, Anime, Gaming, Publishing, Consumer Products, Market Intelligence

Characters, stories, games, anime and publishing properties are becoming the infrastructure of a global licensing economy worth almost $390 billion. For children's media companies, the implications go far beyond merchandising.

The global licensing business has reached a new milestone.

Worldwide retail sales of licensed merchandise and services reached $389.8 billion in 2025, according to Licensing
International's 2026 Global Licensing Industry Study, an increase of 5.45% from $369.6 billion a year earlier. More significantly, licensing expanded faster than the broader global retail market, which grew nominally by 4.52%. The study draws on licensing data from 1,068 companies across 51 countries. But the headline number tells only part of the story. Behind the $389.8 billion figure is a profound transformation in how entertainment properties are created, distributed and monetised.

Characters are becoming brands. Books are becoming intellectual-property platforms. Games are becoming media ecosystems. Anime is becoming a global licensing engine. Social platforms are becoming both discovery
and retail channels. And the boundaries that once separated publishing, entertainment, gaming, toys and consumer products are rapidly disappearing. For the children's media industry, this convergence is particularly important. Increasingly, the economic value of a successful children's property does not come from one product. It comes from the ecosystem that can be built around the IP.

KMN Key Numbers

$389.8B — Global retail sales of licensed
merchandise and services in 2025.

+5.45% — Annual growth of the global licensing
industry.

$161.8B — Character & Entertainment
licensing.

41.5% — Share of the total licensing market
represented by Character & Entertainment.

+8% — Growth of Character & Entertainment
licensing.

$46.4B — Global licensed toy sales.

+14.1% — Growth of licensing in North Asia.

32% — Share of global licensed retail sales
generated online.

16% — Share of online licensed sales generated
through social-media platforms.

Source: Licensing International, 2026 Global Licensing Industry
Study.

Entertainment remains the centre of gravity

The largest property category in licensing remains Character
& Entertainment, generating $161.8 billion in retail sales
in 2025. That represents 41.5% of the entire global licensing market, and it grew by 8% in a single year.

For the kids industry, this matters because Character &
Entertainment licensing is where many of the traditional components of children's media converge: characters, franchises, television, streaming, gaming and digital entertainment. But even within this enormous category, the balance of power is changing. The traditional assumption was straightforward: film or television → audience → merchandise. That model is no longer sufficient to explain the market.

According to Licensing International, anime, video games,
comics, social media and other properties now account for a combined 34% of Character & Entertainment licensing revenues. Feature films together with scripted and unscripted television represent 33%.

That statistic illustrates one of the biggest structural changes
taking place in global entertainment: the screen is no longer
the only place where a franchise begins.

IP can start almost anywhere

A globally scalable children's property might now originate as a book, a manga, a webtoon, a videogame, a YouTube property, a social-media character, a comic or an animation. The question for companies is therefore changing. It is no longer simply, "Can we sell this content?" It is increasingly, "Can this property travel between formats, territories and consumer experiences?" A book generates revenue when somebody buys the book. An IP ecosystem can generate value every time the audience interacts with the property. The book may therefore become the first layer of a much larger architecture.

Publishing is becoming part of the licensing economy

Publishing properties themselves increased 5.9% in
2025, making publishing one of the stronger-performing
licensing property categories. For children's publishers, this creates both an opportunity and a strategic challenge. Historically, international expansion in children's publishing often meant selling translation rights. That business remains essential, but a new layer is increasingly being added. A publisher or IP owner may now ask: Could the property become animation? Could it work as a game? Could it become a toy line? Could it support apparel? Could it become an educational product? Could it work as a live experience? Could its characters build communities online? In other words, publishing rights and IP rights are becoming increasingly interconnected. The companies that understand that distinction early may capture substantially more value from successful properties.

The rise of anime, gaming and comics changes licensing

One of the most revealing developments is the increasing weight of media forms that were once considered secondary to mainstream film and television. Anime, videogames, comics and social media are now central components of Character & Entertainment licensing. This is especially relevant for younger audiences. Today's children and teenagers do not necessarily distinguish between media categories in the way the industry traditionally has. A character may be discovered through a game, then watched on streaming, followed on social media, encountered in a comic and purchased as a collectible. The consumer experiences one IP. The industry often still sees five different businesses. That gap is one of the most important strategic issues facing children's entertainment.

Asia is becoming impossible to ignore

North Asia was the world's fastest-growing licensing region in 2025, expanding by 14.1%. Licensing International attributes that performance to growth in global box office, videogames and anime streaming, led particularly by Japan, South Korea and China. Latin America increased 7.6%, while South Asia/Pacific grew 5.3%. These figures reinforce a broader shift within the children's entertainment industry. For decades, global entertainment expansion was often imagined as a predominantly West-to-East process. Today the flows are multidirectional.

Japanese anime travels globally. Korean webtoons generate audiovisual adaptations. Asian videogames create worldwide communities. Chinese platforms and publishers operate at enormous domestic scale while increasingly participating in international rights markets. The global map of children's IP is becoming much more complex — and potentially much more interesting.

The $46.4 billion toy connection

Toys remain one of the clearest demonstrations of how entertainment can become physical commerce. Licensed toys generated $46.4 billion in retail sales during 2025. Another phenomenon is broadening the economics of this category: the kidult consumer. Licensing International reports that nearly 40% of European adult consumers purchased toys either for themselves or another adult during 2025.

This matters enormously for IP owners. The audience for a successful children's franchise may no longer disappear when the original child grows up. Nostalgia can create a second commercial cycle. The strongest children's franchises therefore do something extremely valuable: they grow with their audience.

Commerce is moving closer to content

Online retail represented 32% of global licensed retail sales in 2025. For the first time, Licensing International also measured the role of social commerce: 16% of global online
licensed sales were generated through social-media
platforms. The implications go beyond ecommerce. The traditional consumer journey might have looked like content → advertising → store → product. Increasingly it can become content → community → recommendation → purchase. Sometimes all of this happens within the same digital environment. Community itself becomes infrastructure.

The KMN Licensing Flywheel

The modern licensing economy is increasingly better understood as a flywheel rather than a linear chain:

STORY → AUDIENCE → COMMUNITY → PRODUCTS → EXPERIENCES → DATA → NEW CONTENT → LARGER AUDIENCE

A story creates an audience. The audience becomes a community. That community creates demand for products and experiences. Those interactions generate data, which informs new content and expands the audience again. The stronger the IP becomes, the faster that wheel can potentially turn.

This changes how children's IP should be evaluated

For publishers, producers and investors, the traditional evaluation of children's content may no longer be enough. KMN believes companies should increasingly evaluate properties across at least six dimensions:

Character strength — Are the characters immediately
identifiable?

World — Is there a universe capable of generating
additional stories?

Repeatability — Can the concept support multiple
episodes, books or experiences?

Visual identity — Can audiences recognise the
property instantly?

Format mobility — Can the idea move between
publishing, audiovisual, digital and physical products?

International portability — Can the fundamental
concept travel culturally?

None of these guarantees success. Together, however, they help
distinguish a piece of content from a potentially expandable
intellectual property.

The new competition is for attention — and longevity

The paradox of today's entertainment economy is that producing content has become easier while building durable franchises may have become harder.

Children have access to an extraordinary volume of entertainment. Streaming competes with gaming. Gaming competes with social media. Books compete with short-form video. Traditional broadcasters compete with YouTube.

Every IP therefore fights for the same scarce resource:
attention. Licensing introduces a second dimension. It allows successful properties to exist beyond the moment when the audience is watching or reading them.

A character can appear in a bedroom, on a backpack, inside a game, at a theme park, on clothing, in a school product or as a collectible. Every new point of contact potentially reinforces the relationship between audience and IP. Licensing, at its best, is therefore not simply merchandise. It is audience extension.

Why this matters for smaller IP companies

The $389.8 billion figure might suggest an industry dominated
exclusively by giant entertainment groups. But the transformation of distribution creates opportunities for smaller companies as well. An independent publisher may own an unusual children's character. A webtoon studio may discover a global fandom. A game developer may create a recognisable universe. An animation studio may control a property rather than simply provide production services. What matters increasingly is not only company size. It is the combination of ownership + audience + scalability. This is why IP ownership is becoming one of the most strategic questions across children's media.

KMN Outlook 2027

The licensing economy is unlikely to become simpler. It will become more interconnected. Publishing companies will think more like IP companies. Animation studios will increasingly consider consumer products earlier in development. Gaming companies will continue moving into entertainment licensing. Anime and manga will play an increasingly international role. Retail and social commerce will move closer to content. Emerging properties will attempt to build communities before they become mass-market franchises. The strongest children's media companies may therefore be those capable of thinking simultaneously about storytelling and business architecture. Because the fundamental economic unit of children's entertainment is changing. It is no longer necessarily the book. It is no longer necessarily the television series. It is no longer necessarily the toy. Increasingly, it is the intellectual property connecting all of them. And a global licensing economy approaching $400 billion shows just how valuable those connections have become.

Primary source: Licensing International, 2026
Global Licensing Industry Study.

ARTICLE| GLOBAL MARKETS / ASIA

Dario Gulli: "The Future of Kids Media Is Not About Producing More Content. It Is About Building Better IP

Almond Entertainment Creative Director Dario Gulli explains why the kids media industry is moving from content production toward IP creation.

Slug: dario-gulli-future-kids-media-ip-economy
Tags: Dario Gulli, Almond Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Kids Media, Children's Publishing, Animation, Licensing, Gaming, Creative Industries, Fondazione Pescarabruzzo, Nicola Mattoscio

The Creative Director of Almond Entertainment discusses the transformation of children's publishing into an international IP business, the relationship between books, animation, licensing, technology and global markets — and why territories need vision as much as capital to build a creative industry.

KMN: You often say that today a book should not necessarily be thought of only as a book. What do you mean?

DARIO GULLI: First of all, a book must work as a book. I do not believe in creating a weak book simply because somebody thinks the character could become a cartoon or a toy. The reader comes first. But when we develop a property for children, I ask a second question very early: is there a world behind this story? Can the character live another adventure? Can children recognize it immediately? Can the idea survive in another language? Could it become animation, a game, a comic or an educational experience without losing its identity? That is where a book starts becoming an IP.

KMN: So what is the difference between an author and an IP creator?

DARIO GULLI: An author creates a story. An IP creator also begins to understand the architecture around that story: characters, world, visual identity, audience, rights and potential extensions. The emotional idea must always come first. What changes is the awareness that a strong character may have a life of ten, twenty or fifty years.

KMN: Almond has developed publishing properties that have travelled extensively around the world. What has that taught you about IP?

DARIO GULLI: International publishing is an extraordinary laboratory. When the same property begins to connect with readers in very different countries, you start to understand which elements are genuinely universal. At Almond, international rights are not simply a source of revenue. They are also information. They tell you where a character works, where a concept travels and where an IP may have the potential to become something larger than its original format.

KMN: What is the mistake publishers make when they talk about IP?

DARIO GULLI: Thinking that IP means merchandise. It does not. A mug with a character printed on it is not an IP strategy. An IP is the relationship between an audience and a fictional world. Licensing monetizes that relationship. Animation can amplify it. Games can deepen it. Publishing can begin it. But without the relationship, none of those businesses are sustainable.

KMN: Is character more important than format?

DARIO GULLI: Absolutely. Formats change constantly. Television changed, streaming arrived, YouTube arrived, webtoons arrived, gaming became central, and AI will create another transformation. Strong characters survive technologies. That is what makes IP so valuable.

KMN: Does every publisher need to become an entertainment company?

DARIO GULLI: No. Publishers should publish and editors should discover great books. What publishers need is a better ability to identify which small percentage of their catalogue contains expandable IP. Most books should remain books. But one exceptional property can change the economics of an entire catalogue.

KMN: What do you look for in scalable IP?

DARIO GULLI: A recognizable character, a strong emotional idea, repeatability, a world, visual identity and something I call playability. Can a child do something with this world? Can they imagine themselves inside it, collect something, choose something or become one of the characters? That becomes extremely important when you move toward gaming, digital or consumer products.

KMN: How important is technology?

DARIO GULLI: Fundamental, but technology should remain a tool. I am not interested in technology because it looks modern. I am interested when it makes the relationship with the story deeper. If AR adds nothing, do not use AR. If an app adds nothing, do not build the app.

KMN: And artificial intelligence?

DARIO GULLI: AI will change development, localization, production workflows, marketing, data and discovery. But we have to distinguish between making content cheaper and making IP more valuable. When content becomes infinite, originality becomes more valuable. The scarce resource will be identity.

KMN: Is Europe competitive enough?

DARIO GULLI: Europe has extraordinary creativity, but we often keep writers, publishers, animation studios, universities, museums and technology companies in separate rooms. The opportunity is to connect them more intelligently and think internationally from the beginning.

KMN: And what role can smaller territories play?

DARIO GULLI: A very important one. Creative industries do not require every great idea to be born in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo or Seoul. A territory can create incubators, universities, production infrastructure, museums, festivals, startup ecosystems and international networks. But infrastructure alone is not enough. It requires vision.

KMN: You have worked extensively in Abruzzo. Do you see that possibility there?

DARIO GULLI: Very much. I want to thank Nicola Mattoscio, President of Fondazione Pescarabruzzo, because he has something that is rare: the ability to see culture not simply as preservation, but as an instrument for the future. His vision connects culture, technology, education, entrepreneurship and international relationships. That is exactly what creative industries need.

KMN: Why has that vision been important?

DARIO GULLI: Real innovation requires somebody willing to see the connection before it becomes obvious. Nicola Mattoscio has demonstrated a unique vision of what a foundation can do for a territory. Investing in ideas can create companies, jobs, talent, identity and international opportunity. For anyone trying to connect publishing with animation, technology and IP development, finding an institutional partner capable of understanding that language is extraordinarily valuable.

KMN: Where is kids media heading?

DARIO GULLI: Towards convergence. Publishing, animation, gaming, licensing, streaming and technology will remain different professional industries, but audiences will experience them as one thing. A child discovers a character on YouTube, reads the book, plays the game, watches the animation and visits the experience. For the child there are no divisions. There is only: 'I love this world.' Great IP is ultimately a story people do not want to leave.

KMN Takeaway

The argument is straightforward: the children's entertainment business is moving from a content economy toward an IP economy, where the strategic asset is the relationship between characters, audiences and multiple forms of media. Creative IP also depends on territories and institutions capable of connecting culture, technology, entrepreneurship and international ambition.

Sources

 Almond Entertainment

 Fondazione Pescarabruzzo

ARTICLE | STREAMING / LEADERSH

The New Geography of Kids Media: Why Asia Is Changing the Global Market

The flow of children's IP is becoming multidirectional. Japan, Korea, China and Southeast Asia are reshaping how stories are created, financed and exported.

Slug: asia-changing-global-kids-media-market
Tags: Asia, Japan, South Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Anime, Manga, Webtoon, Children's Publishing, Licensing, Global Rights

The global kids media business is becoming multipolar. For decades, the dominant international flow was easy to describe: major U.S. and European properties travelled outward. Today, Japan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asia are changing not only what global audiences consume, but also how IP is created, tested, distributed and monetized.

Japan: the evergreen IP model

Japan demonstrates how characters can move across manga, animation, games, music, merchandise and experiences for decades. The Association of Japanese Animations reports a broad anime market measured in the trillions of yen, with overseas business now accounting for more than half of the total. The lesson is not simply that anime exports well. It is that integrated IP ecosystems can create value far beyond production revenue.

South Korea: the digital IP model

Korea's webtoon economy offers a different model. Mobile-native serialized storytelling allows creators and platforms to observe audience behaviour before expensive screen adaptation. Successful webtoons can move into television, film, animation and games with an existing community already attached to the source material.

China: scale, publishing and rights

China remains one of the world's largest publishing and consumer markets. International children's publishing events increasingly connect rights trading with licensing and brand development. For global publishers, China is simultaneously a rights market, production market and source of original IP.

Southeast Asia: the emerging audience model

Southeast Asia combines young populations, high mobile usage and rapidly developing digital entertainment markets. It is likely to become increasingly important both as an audience region and as a source of creators and local IP.

A multidirectional map

The new flow looks less like West → World and more like US ↔ Europe ↔ Japan ↔ Korea ↔ China ↔ Latin America ↔ Southeast Asia. This means international strategy can no longer be treated simply as export sales. It increasingly influences development itself.

KMN Outlook

For kids media companies, Asia should be understood not merely as territory. It is a source of production models, platform innovation, audience behaviour and IP. The companies that build meaningful relationships across these markets early will have a stronger view of where the next global properties may emerge.

Sources

 Association of Japanese Animations — Anime Industry Data

ARTICLE | PUBLISHING / BUSINESS

Mondadori's Children's Ecosystem: What Italy's Market Leader Reveals About Kids Publishing

Mondadori's book structure shows how children's publishing increasingly sits inside a wider ecosystem of brands, comics, distribution and retail.

Slug: mondadori-childrens-publishing-ecosystem
Tags: Mondadori, Mondadori Libri, Children's Publishing, Italy, IP

Mondadori's book structure shows how children's publishing increasingly sits inside a wider ecosystem of brands, comics, distribution and retail.

Executive brief

Mondadori says its Trade Books business held a 28.3% Italian market share in 2025. The Group's book perimeter includes children's publishing, De Agostini Libri and Star Comics alongside major trade imprints. This mix shows how kids publishing, comics, manga, distribution and retail increasingly sit inside one strategic ecosystem.

Why this matters now

The children's media economy is being reorganised around intellectual property rather than isolated releases. In publishing / companies, the companies with the strongest position are increasingly those that can connect editorial judgement with rights control, audience knowledge and international distribution. Mondadori says its Trade Books business held a 28.3% Italian market share in 2025. This does not mean every title should become a franchise. It means every serious rights owner needs to understand what kind of asset it owns, which audiences respond to it and which extensions are credible.

The structural shift

For much of the traditional media business, value was measured format by format: book sales, television ratings, box office, licensing revenue or digital subscriptions. That separation is weakening. A children's property can now be discovered in one medium, validated in another and monetised across several. Publishing can test characters at relatively low cost; comics and webtoons can build visual recognition; animation can scale awareness; licensing can extend the relationship into everyday life. The strategic advantage comes from sequencing these steps rather than simply adding them.

What the numbers are really telling us

The Group's book perimeter includes children's publishing, De Agostini Libri and Star Comics alongside major trade imprints. The significance is not the headline number alone. Market data is most useful when it reveals behaviour: where buyers are concentrating, which formats are gaining institutional support, how rights are traded and where companies are investing capabilities. KMN therefore reads statistics alongside corporate structure and distribution. A growing market with weak rights ownership can still produce poor economics for creators; a mature market with strong repeat audiences can generate durable value.

People, companies and decision-making

Industry coverage becomes more useful when names are connected to decisions. Executives, publishers, commissioners, agents and public institutions shape which properties receive capital, distribution and international visibility. KMN's approach is to tag these decision-makers consistently so that readers can move from a company story to related people, markets, deals and IP. Over time, that creates a working map of the industry rather than a chronological stream of disconnected news.

The rights question

For children's IP, rights architecture is often the hidden variable. Publishing rights, translation rights, audiovisual rights, merchandising, games, audio, live events and digital exploitation may be held by different parties. Before expansion, owners need a precise rights map: what is controlled, what has been licensed, for how long, in which territories and with which approval mechanisms. Without that map, apparent opportunity can turn into contractual friction precisely when interest is highest.

KMN outlook

This mix shows how kids publishing, comics, manga, distribution and retail increasingly sit inside one strategic ecosystem. The next competitive cycle will reward organisations that combine creativity with industrial discipline. For KMN, the central question is therefore not whether children's media is becoming more commercial. It is whether companies can build systems that allow strong creative work to travel further without losing identity. The winners will be those that understand audience, ownership, timing and partnership — and can connect those elements across markets.

KMN takeaway

The market is moving from content supply toward IP orchestration. That shift changes what publishers acquire, what producers finance, what platforms commission and what rights teams need to know. The practical consequence is clear: every major children's-media decision now sits inside a wider network of rights, data, distribution and long-term audience value.

A practical framework

KMN evaluates opportunities through five lenses: creative clarity, rights control, audience evidence, international portability and extension logic. Creative clarity asks whether the character and premise can be understood quickly. Rights control asks whether the owner can actually make the proposed deal. Audience evidence asks what has already been demonstrated. International portability tests what survives localisation. Extension logic asks whether the next medium adds value rather than merely reproducing the same material.

Risks to watch

The biggest risk in an IP-led market is overextension. A property can be weakened by moving too quickly into formats for which it has no audience, by granting rights too broadly, or by using licensing as a substitute for brand building. Another risk is data theatre: large reach figures can look impressive while saying little about repeat engagement or purchasing behaviour. Serious analysis distinguishes awareness from loyalty and gross exposure from monetisable demand.

The 2027 question

By 2027, the most interesting children's-media companies may not fit neatly into labels such as publisher, studio or platform. They will combine capabilities. Publishers will develop audiovisual pipelines; studios will publish; digital platforms will finance print; retailers will create experiences; rights agencies will use data products; and public institutions will increasingly treat content exports as economic infrastructure. The strategic challenge is to remain specialised enough to be excellent while connected enough to capture value across the chain.

Distribution is strategy

Distribution should not be treated as the final operational step. It influences the product itself. A title designed for school and library discovery behaves differently from one built around social video; a preschool animation property needs different repetition and parental trust signals from a middle-grade graphic novel; a webtoon-native property begins with vertical mobile reading and measurable episode retention. The best IP strategies start with these realities instead of retrofitting them later.

The international dimension

Internationalisation is not a single sale. It is a sequence of market tests. Rights deals reveal where a concept travels; local publishers reveal how positioning changes by territory; fairs concentrate information about buyers; digital platforms expose audience behaviour at scale. A property that works in several culturally distinct markets has accumulated evidence. That evidence can support future negotiations with producers, broadcasters, platforms and licensing partners.

What kids-media companies should do next

First, separate creative ambition from rights reality. Second, document audience evidence rather than relying on adjectives such as 'global' or 'franchise-ready'. Third, build a territory map that records active partners and white spaces. Fourth, define the next format only when it strengthens the core property. Fifth, prepare visual and commercial materials that allow a buyer to understand the IP in minutes. Finally, keep data current: a rights catalogue becomes less useful every month that availability, sales and adaptation status are not updated.

Mondadori, Star Comics and the Strategic Value of Manga

Mondadori increased its stake in Star Comics to 75.5% in 2025. The transaction says something larger about manga's role inside mainstream publishing.

Slug: mondadori-star-comics-manga-strategy
Tags: Mondadori, Star Comics, Manga, Comics, Italy

Mondadori increased its stake in Star Comics to 75.5% in 2025. The transaction says something larger about manga's role inside mainstream publishing.

Executive brief

In March 2025 Mondadori Libri increased its stake in Edizioni Star Comics from 51% to 75.5%. The provisional price for the additional 24.5% stake was €5 million. The transaction is a strong signal that manga and comics capabilities are strategically important to mainstream publishing groups.

Why this matters now

The children's media economy is being reorganised around intellectual property rather than isolated releases. In comics & manga / companies, the companies with the strongest position are increasingly those that can connect editorial judgement with rights control, audience knowledge and international distribution. In March 2025 Mondadori Libri increased its stake in Edizioni Star Comics from 51% to 75.5%. This does not mean every title should become a franchise. It means every serious rights owner needs to understand what kind of asset it owns, which audiences respond to it and which extensions are credible.

The structural shift

For much of the traditional media business, value was measured format by format: book sales, television ratings, box office, licensing revenue or digital subscriptions. That separation is weakening. A children's property can now be discovered in one medium, validated in another and monetised across several. Publishing can test characters at relatively low cost; comics and webtoons can build visual recognition; animation can scale awareness; licensing can extend the relationship into everyday life. The strategic advantage comes from sequencing these steps rather than simply adding them.

What the numbers are really telling us

The provisional price for the additional 24.5% stake was €5 million. The significance is not the headline number alone. Market data is most useful when it reveals behaviour: where buyers are concentrating, which formats are gaining institutional support, how rights are traded and where companies are investing capabilities. KMN therefore reads statistics alongside corporate structure and distribution. A growing market with weak rights ownership can still produce poor economics for creators; a mature market with strong repeat audiences can generate durable value.

People, companies and decision-making

Industry coverage becomes more useful when names are connected to decisions. Executives, publishers, commissioners, agents and public institutions shape which properties receive capital, distribution and international visibility. KMN's approach is to tag these decision-makers consistently so that readers can move from a company story to related people, markets, deals and IP. Over time, that creates a working map of the industry rather than a chronological stream of disconnected news.

The rights question

For children's IP, rights architecture is often the hidden variable. Publishing rights, translation rights, audiovisual rights, merchandising, games, audio, live events and digital exploitation may be held by different parties. Before expansion, owners need a precise rights map: what is controlled, what has been licensed, for how long, in which territories and with which approval mechanisms. Without that map, apparent opportunity can turn into contractual friction precisely when interest is highest.

Distribution is strategy

Distribution should not be treated as the final operational step. It influences the product itself. A title designed for school and library discovery behaves differently from one built around social video; a preschool animation property needs different repetition and parental trust signals from a middle-grade graphic novel; a webtoon-native property begins with vertical mobile reading and measurable episode retention. The best IP strategies start with these realities instead of retrofitting them later.

The international dimension

Internationalisation is not a single sale. It is a sequence of market tests. Rights deals reveal where a concept travels; local publishers reveal how positioning changes by territory; fairs concentrate information about buyers; digital platforms expose audience behaviour at scale. A property that works in several culturally distinct markets has accumulated evidence. That evidence can support future negotiations with producers, broadcasters, platforms and licensing partners.

What kids-media companies should do next

First, separate creative ambition from rights reality. Second, document audience evidence rather than relying on adjectives such as 'global' or 'franchise-ready'. Third, build a territory map that records active partners and white spaces. Fourth, define the next format only when it strengthens the core property. Fifth, prepare visual and commercial materials that allow a buyer to understand the IP in minutes. Finally, keep data current: a rights catalogue becomes less useful every month that availability, sales and adaptation status are not updated the chain.

KMN outlook

The transaction is a strong signal that manga and comics capabilities are strategically important to mainstream publishing groups. The next competitive cycle will reward organisations that combine creativity with industrial discipline. For KMN, the central question is therefore not whether children's media is becoming more commercial. It is whether companies can build systems that allow strong creative work to travel further without losing identity. The winners will be those that understand audience, ownership, timing and partnership — and can connect those elements across markets.

KMN takeaway

The market is moving from content supply toward IP orchestration. That shift changes what publishers acquire, what producers finance, what platforms commission and what rights teams need to know. The practical consequence is clear: every major children's-media decision now sits inside a wider network of rights, data, distribution and long-term audience value.

A practical framework

KMN evaluates opportunities through five lenses: creative clarity, rights control, audience evidence, international portability and extension logic. Creative clarity asks whether the character and premise can be understood quickly. Rights control asks whether the owner can actually make the proposed deal. Audience evidence asks what has already been demonstrated. International portability tests what survives localisation. Extension logic asks whether the next medium adds value rather than merely reproducing the same material.

Risks to watch

The biggest risk in an IP-led market is overextension. A property can be weakened by moving too quickly into formats for which it has no audience, by granting rights too broadly, or by using licensing as a substitute for brand building. Another risk is data theatre: large reach figures can look impressive while saying little about repeat engagement or purchasing behaviour. Serious analysis distinguishes awareness from loyalty and gross exposure from monetisable demand.

The 2027 question

By 2027, the most interesting children's-media companies may not fit neatly into labels such as publisher, studio or platform. They will combine capabilities. Publishers will develop audiovisual pipelines; studios will publish; digital platforms will finance print; retailers will create experiences; rights agencies will use data products; and public institutions will increasingly treat content exports as economic infrastructure. The strategic challenge is to remain specialised enough to be excellent while connected enough to capture value across 

10 Authors Turning Children's Books into Global IP

KMN selects ten children's creators whose books demonstrate how characters can evolve into screen, games, licensing and long-term global IP.

Slug: 10-childrens-authors-building-global-ip
Tags: Children's Authors, IP Creators, Dav Pilkey, Jeff Kinney, Aaron Blabey, Liz Pichon, Philip Osbourne, Children's Publishing, Book-to-Screen

From publishing phenomena to animation, streaming, theatre, licensing and digital worlds, these ten creators show how a children's book can become the starting point for something much bigger.

For much of publishing history, the principal measure of success was relatively straightforward: how many books were sold?

That metric still matters. A great children's property begins with readers.

But the global children's entertainment industry is changing the question.

Today, publishers, producers, agents and investors increasingly want to understand not only whether a book can sell, but whether its characters, visual language and narrative universe can travel — across territories, formats, platforms and generations.

A book can become animation. A character can become a consumer-products property. A graphic novel can become a theatrical film. A publishing universe can generate spin-offs, games, stage productions and digital experiences.

The most interesting creators in contemporary children's publishing therefore operate, intentionally or otherwise, at the intersection of authorship and intellectual property.

For this KMN editorial selection, we looked at ten authors whose work illustrates different ways in which publishing can become the foundation of a broader IP ecosystem.

This is not a ranking of the world's "best" children's authors, nor a ranking based purely on sales. It is an editorial selection examining creators whose properties offer particularly interesting lessons about how children's publishing can travel beyond the book.

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1. DAV PILKEY

The IP: Dog Man / Captain Underpants

Few contemporary creators demonstrate the power of author-driven children's IP as clearly as Dav Pilkey.

Scholastic reports more than 70 million Dog Man books in print worldwide, with the series available in 50 languages. Captain Underpants adds another 90 million books in print.

But the numbers only partly explain Pilkey's relevance.

Dog Man has developed into an interconnected publishing universe, including the Cat Kid Comic Club spin-off, while the property has also expanded into theatre and film. DreamWorks Animation's Dog Man movie opened at number one at the box office, according to Scholastic.

Captain Underpants had already demonstrated the same capacity for migration, moving from books into a DreamWorks feature film and a Netflix series.

Why KMN selected him

Pilkey demonstrates something fundamental about children's IP: a distinctive creative language can itself become a brand.

The drawings, humour, typography and anarchic storytelling are not simply packaging around the stories. They are part of the property's identity.

That makes the work immediately recognisable — one of the most valuable characteristics an IP can possess.

KMN IP lesson: Own a visual and narrative language audiences can recognise before they even read the title.

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2. JEFF KINNEY

The IP: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney represents one of the clearest examples of an illustrated publishing concept becoming a global entertainment franchise.

The official Wimpy Kid site reports more than 300 million books sold globally, with the series appearing in 93 editions and 75 languages.

Perhaps even more interesting is where the property began.

Kinney spent years developing the concept before releasing it online through Funbrain in 2004. Millions of views preceded the eventual print publishing deal, and the first book appeared in 2007.

The franchise subsequently expanded into multiple feature films and animated adaptations.

The lesson is significant because Wimpy Kid is not built around fantasy spectacle or superheroes. Its strength is a highly repeatable combination of character, humour, illustration and recognisable everyday experience.

Why KMN selected him

Kinney proves that enormous IP does not necessarily require an enormous fictional universe.

Sometimes the character is the universe.

Greg Heffley's worldview is sufficiently distinctive to sustain books, films, international editions and an enduring global audience.

KMN IP lesson: Repeatability can be more important than scale of concept.

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3. AARON BLABEY

The IP: The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys provides an extraordinary contemporary case study in what can happen when publishing and animation reinforce each other.

The series began as Aaron Blabey's illustrated books about a group of supposedly villainous animals trying to become heroes.

Then came DreamWorks.

The first Bad Guys feature film was released in 2022, followed by The Bad Guys 2. DreamWorks says the publishing series has grown from approximately 8 million copies before the first film to more than 30 million copies sold.

That is particularly revealing.

The relationship between books and screen is not necessarily:

BOOK → MOVIE → BOOK BECOMES SECONDARY

Instead, it can become:

BOOK → AUDIENCE → MOVIE → LARGER AUDIENCE → MORE BOOKS → STRONGER IP

Why KMN selected him

Blabey's property demonstrates the multiplier effect that a successful screen adaptation can have on its publishing source.

The characters also possess the ingredients animation companies and licensing businesses value: silhouettes, personalities, ensemble dynamics, humour and immediate visual recognition.

KMN IP lesson: Adaptation does not have to replace publishing. Done well, it can dramatically enlarge it.

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4. LIZ PICHON

The IP: Tom Gates

Liz Pichon's Tom Gates is another example of illustrated storytelling developing into a much wider creative property.

According to Pichon's official site, the series has sold more than 16.5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 46 languages.

Its expansion is particularly interesting because Pichon has remained creatively involved beyond the original books.

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates became a television series, with Pichon co-writing scripts and songs. She also co-wrote a Tom Gates stage production that toured the UK.

This is not simply rights exploitation.

It is an example of the creator's voice travelling with the property.

Why KMN selected her

Tom Gates illustrates the value of creative consistency across formats.

Its doodles, typography, humour, music and school-life universe create an identity that can survive movement between publishing, television and performance.

KMN IP lesson: When the creator's voice is central to the brand, preserving that voice across formats can become a competitive advantage.

5. PHILIP OSBOURNE

The IP: Diary of a Nerd and a portfolio of international children's properties

Philip Osbourne offers a different case study: the development of children's publishing properties specifically with international mobility and cross-media potential in mind.

According to Almond Entertainment, Osbourne's books have been published in more than 50 countries, while Diary of a Nerd alone is listed as published in 52 countries.

The Diary of a Nerd universe has expanded beyond its original series into additional books and spin-off properties, including The Super Adventures of Elen and Teo, A Genius Dog. Almond presents the property as one designed for further development across cartoons, games, merchandise and educational applications.

Osbourne's wider catalogue also demonstrates a portfolio approach to IP, with properties conceived across illustrated fiction, comics and concepts capable of audiovisual development.

Why KMN selected him

The interesting element here is international rights as an IP laboratory.

When a children's property works in culturally different publishing territories, those markets provide information. They show which characters, themes and concepts possess international portability.

Publishing rights therefore become more than revenue.

They become evidence.

For smaller and independent IP creators in particular, international publishing can be the first stage in demonstrating that a property has the ability to travel.

KMN IP lesson: Every territory in which a property succeeds provides another piece of evidence about its global potential.

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6. LINCOLN PEIRCE

The IP: Big Nate

Lincoln Peirce's Big Nate demonstrates the power of a character that can exist naturally across adjacent forms of visual storytelling.

Nate Wright originated in Peirce's comic strip before expanding into bestselling children's books.

The property subsequently made the transition to animation through Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Paramount+ launched the Big Nate animated series in 2022, based on Peirce's books and comic strip and initially announcing 26 episodes.

The transition feels natural because the fundamental DNA of the property was already visual.

Character comedy, school situations and a strong graphic identity provide an unusually direct bridge between page and screen.

Why KMN selected him

Big Nate demonstrates the importance of format compatibility.

Some publishing properties require substantial reinvention before they can become audiovisual entertainment.

Others already contain the visual grammar of animation.

KMN IP lesson: The shorter the creative distance between formats, the easier an IP may be to expand.

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7. MARC BROWN

The IP: Arthur

If many contemporary creators demonstrate how books can become IP, Marc Brown demonstrates something even more valuable:

longevity.

Arthur began with Arthur's Nose in 1976.

The books eventually became the foundation of one of the most durable children's television properties in modern media.

PBS says the animated series grew from Brown's books into television, movies, audiobooks, music, apps and digital experiences.

PBS Distribution reports that Arthur books have sold more than 70 million copies, while the television programme has aired in more than 90 countries and ran for 25 seasons.

That changes the way we should think about IP value.

A successful children's property is not necessarily one that produces the biggest launch.

It may be one that remains culturally relevant for decades.

Why KMN selected him

Arthur shows that children's IP can become generational infrastructure.

Parents who encountered the character as children can later introduce it to their own children.

That intergenerational recognition is exceptionally difficult to manufacture — and exceptionally valuable once achieved.

KMN IP lesson: The ultimate measure of IP may not be reach. It may be time.

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8. RACHEL BRIGHT

The IP: The Lion Inside and a global picture-book portfolio

Rachel Bright demonstrates that scalable IP does not belong exclusively to middle-grade series or graphic novels.

Picture books can create globally recognisable characters too.

Hachette reports that Bright's books have collectively sold more than five million copies worldwide and have been translated into 47 languages.

More strikingly, the tenth-anniversary edition of The Lion Inside, created with illustrator Jim Field, states that this single title has now sold more than five million copies worldwide in 42 languages.

The strength of the property lies in simplicity: an immediately understandable emotional idea combined with highly recognisable animal characters.

Why KMN selected her

Bright demonstrates the international power of emotional universality.

Confidence, fear, friendship and self-belief require relatively little cultural translation.

Combined with strong visual characters, that makes picture-book storytelling unusually portable.

KMN IP lesson: A simple universal emotion can be as scalable as an elaborate fictional universe.

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9. TOM FLETCHER

The IP: The Christmasaurus and a broader children's publishing universe

Tom Fletcher occupies an interesting position between publishing, music and entertainment.

Penguin reports that his books have been translated into 42 languages, with 10 million copies sold globally.

The Christmasaurus became the biggest debut children's novel of 2016 in the UK and subsequently developed into a series.

The property is particularly interesting because Fletcher's background allows music and performance to sit naturally alongside storytelling. Penguin has previously reported development of The Christmasaurus as an animated feature project with The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, with original songs by Fletcher.

Why KMN selected him

Fletcher illustrates the potential of multidisciplinary creators.

The future of children's IP may increasingly favour creators capable of thinking not only in prose but in music, performance, audiovisual storytelling and audience experience.

KMN IP lesson: The more creative languages an IP can speak authentically, the more doors it can potentially open.

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10. KES GRAY

The IP: Oi Frog and Friends

Kes Gray and illustrator Jim Field demonstrate how a seemingly simple picture-book idea can become a repeatable publishing system.

Oi Frog! takes a wonderfully straightforward concept — animals must sit on objects that rhyme with their names — and turns that linguistic rule into comedy.

Hachette reports that Oi Frog! itself has sold more than one million copies, while the wider Oi Frog and Friends series has surpassed three million copies and has also been adapted for theatre.

The property has continued expanding through titles including Oi Dog!, Oi Cat!, Oi Puppies!, Oi Aardvark! and Oi Dinosaurs!.

There has even been an interactive app built around the rhyming world and its characters.

Why KMN selected him

Gray's work demonstrates something easy to underestimate:

a format can itself become intellectual property.

The repeatable rule of the Oi universe generates new books, characters and interactions without abandoning the central promise.

KMN IP lesson: A strong creative mechanic can be as important as a strong character.

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What these ten creators have in common

Their work is extremely different.

Dav Pilkey's graphic novels do not resemble Rachel Bright's picture books.

Arthur is structurally different from The Bad Guys.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid follows a different commercial path from Tom Gates or Oi Frog.

And that is precisely the point.

There is no single formula for building children's IP.

But several recurring characteristics emerge.

1. Recognition

Strong IP can often be identified immediately.

A drawing style. A silhouette. A character. A title treatment. A voice.

Recognition reduces the distance between encountering a property and remembering it.

2. Repeatability

A great story can end.

A great IP often contains a reason for another story to begin.

That may come from a character, a world, a comic mechanism, a school environment, an ensemble or a narrative format.

3. International portability

Translation rights remain one of publishing's most useful tests of universality.

A property that works in dozens of territories has demonstrated something that cannot be established by a pitch deck alone: people from different cultures want it.

4. Format mobility

Not every successful book should become animation.

Not every animation needs merchandise.

But the properties in this selection demonstrate an ability to retain their identity when they move.

That is the critical distinction.

Adaptation should not merely reproduce the source. It should extend the relationship between the audience and the IP.

5. Creator identity

Another important pattern is the role of the creator.

Pilkey's drawing is inseparable from Pilkey's storytelling. Pichon's visual language defines Tom Gates. Brown's relationship with Arthur has lasted decades.

Successful IP development does not necessarily mean removing the author once the publishing rights are sold.

Increasingly, creators can become part of the strategic architecture of the franchise.

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The book is becoming the beginning

The publishing industry should be careful with the phrase "IP".

A book should not be treated merely as raw material for television.

Literary quality, originality, emotion and the relationship with the reader remain fundamental.

Indeed, the most durable franchises generally become valuable because audiences loved the original experience first.

But the business environment surrounding children's publishing is unquestionably changing.

Publishers are interacting more frequently with animation studios. Streaming companies search publishing catalogues. Licensing companies look for emerging characters. Game developers look for worlds. Producers look for communities.

And international rights markets increasingly operate alongside audiovisual and licensing markets.

The book remains extraordinarily powerful because it can accomplish something few other media can do at comparable cost:

it can prove that a world deserves an audience.

Once that happens, the possibilities become much larger.

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KMN IP MATRIX

Creator Publishing Engine Expansion Dav Pilkey Dog Man / Captain Underpants Film, streaming, theatre, spin-offs Jeff Kinney Diary of a Wimpy Kid Film, animation, global franchise Aaron Blabey The Bad Guys DreamWorks theatrical animation Liz Pichon Tom Gates Television, theatre, music Philip Osbourne Diary of a Nerd / IP portfolio International rights, spin-offs, cross-media development Lincoln Peirce Big Nate Comics, books, animation Marc Brown Arthur TV, film, audio, apps, education Rachel Bright The Lion Inside Global picture-book IP Tom Fletcher The Christmasaurus Publishing, music, audiovisual development Kes Gray Oi Frog and Friends Publishing, theatre, interactive

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KMN Takeaway

The lesson from these ten creators is not that every children's book needs to become a franchise.

It is almost the opposite.

The book has to work first.

Children do not fall in love with licensing strategies. They fall in love with characters, humour, worlds and stories.

But when that relationship exists, the economics surrounding the book can change dramatically.

Publishing can become animation. Animation can generate discovery. Discovery can increase book sales. Characters can enter licensing. Digital platforms can create communities. Communities can sustain new stories. And new stories can introduce the property to another generation.

The modern children's author may therefore remain exactly what authors have always been — a storyteller.

But increasingly, the world created by that storyteller can become something more:

a global intellectual property.