Did you know that 32 percent of Gen-X moms have tattoos? I learned that from my old buddies the authors of Marketing to the New Super Consumer: Mom & Kid. It's about to be published by Paramount Books. This pic comes from a fellow blogspot blog, "Tattoo Machine." If you want to ponder who influences whom, go to Google Images and look how many kids have proudly uploaded "Mom's first tattoo" pictures.Trends in food, entertainment, fashion and lifestyles of kids and teens around the... Read Full Story

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... Read Full Story

Billy Carton says he gets his children to eat everything from salmon to brussels sprouts by cutting foods small and impaling the pieces on those cocktail toothpicks with colorful frou-frou on the ends. Perfect! It adds color, kid-sizes, eating ritual, and provides a weapon. Lots of fodder for kid food innovation here (but, sorry, not the weapon part).Trends in food, entertainment, fashion and lifestyles of kids and teens around the world. Food for thought for marketing and entertainment... Read Full Story

I posted this little girl's picture a couple of years ago to underscore kid's intense love of color. (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... Read Full Story

After spending 6 months on the NYT Bestseller's List, this perfect boy property by Jon Szieszka is getting its own web world. You can imagine the audio. Food marketers, alert: This property could get kids eating carrots, apples, pears, peanuts: Anything that goes "crunch." And I predict "Wrecker Rosie" with her pink wrecking ball will be a breakout character. If I made Bubble Gum, I'd put together a deal with them "Smash! Crash!" before sundown.Trends in food, entertainment, fashion... Read Full Story

You can design for your avatar in your favorite virtual world, and you can do the same for your tween girl self at Fashionology LA. Not only that, you can model it and show your creation and yourself on large screens throughout the store. As soon as you grow out of that, you'll grow into your personally-designed Lill Street bag. Kids always say "I do it self!" The business of creating a platform and letting the young customers create content is not just for them, but they'll lunge for it... Read Full Story

Meet Pucca who loves Garu in what's positioned as a funny love story. She looks exceptionally good on products and, though she didn't show up in a lot of press, she had a prominent spot at the NY Licensing Show.Trends in food, entertainment, fashion and lifestyles of kids and teens around the world. Food for thought for marketing and entertainment professionals. Read Full Story

This year's Licensing Show was refreshingly un-dominated by ancient reruns. A lot of new Japanese adorableness (kawaii) had elbowed its way in. Simplistic "hand-draw" styles like Charlie & Lola and even Roald Dahl had center aisle presence. And, breaking new ground, was Pampers' Kandoo, a lively spokesfrog previously mentioned in this blog. P&G; was wisely licensing the rights to their potty-empowering character. On behalf of Edgar & Ellen, I met with people from Israel, the UK... Read Full Story

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... Read Full Story

Jim McNeal has often talked about Chinese students' preference for school supplies over toys as premiums and treats. It can be true in the US, too. Here a girl uses her own discretionary dollars to buy the "cutest" pens.Trends in food, entertainment, fashion and lifestyles of kids and teens around the world. Food for thought for marketing and entertainment professionals. Read Full Story