[PRESS RELEASE – 20 JULY 2022]

Award-winning independent children’s publisher, Sweet Cherry Publishing, is releasing more than ten new lines in their licensed range of Numberblocks and Alphablocks books later this year.

The new books aimed at 3-6-year-olds feature lift-the-flap books and four wipe-clean books, plus a second edition of the Numberblocks Christmas sticker activity book. September will also see the release of the latest official Numberblocks Annual for 2023, marking the fourth edition of Sweet Cherry’s bestseller.

Maya Maraj, Head of Licensing and Commercial at Sweet Cherry (pictured right with Publisher Sanjee de Silva), said: “It’s amazing to be part of such a fast-growing kids’ brand that champions learning being fun. We love working with the brands’ fantastic creator, Joe Elliot, and the team at Alphablocks Ltd and Larkshead Licensing. We are excited to share our new publishing with the dedicated fanbase who really connect with the brands’ values and our own.”

Like the Numberblocks and Alphablocks brands, Sweet Cherry values accessibility, inclusivity and edu-tainment, and has been praised as “a fantastic success story that does a lot of good in the world” (IPG, 2022). The Leicester-based company was recently awarded Children’s Publisher of the Year 2022 at the IPG’s Independent Publishing Awards and Small Press of the Year 2021 at The Bookseller’s British Book Awards.

Lindsey Chester, Senior Licensing & Retail Manager at Larkshead Licensing, said: “I can’t wait to see these brilliant new books in the marketplace that I know will engage and delight little learners.  It’s been a super rewarding journey for the Larkshead team developing this range with Sweet Cherry and Alphablocks Ltd that reflect the joy, playfulness and of course learning of these two very special brands.”

Numberblocks is a revolutionary maths brand that uses humour, delightful characters based on numbers, and engaging storylines to show children up to the age of six how numbers work. Similarly, Alphablocks is based on twenty-six characters who join together to form phonics words and magically come to life. Both brands were created by ex-teacher Joe Elliott, with animations produced by Blue Zoo Productions Ltd.

Numberblocks and Alphablocks air on weekdays on CBeebies and episodes are available on-demand on BBC iPlayer and YouTube. Numberblocks episodes are also available on Netflix.  These brands have seen phenomenal growth in recent years, driven by the increase in home learning, with over a combined total of 6 million subscribers and over 4.8 billion lifetime views on YouTube and with an active and engaged fanbase of over 83k followers on social media.

Sweet Cherry Publishing recently announced a UK distribution deal with PRH-owned Grantham Book Services (GBS). The new book ranges for 2022 are due to launch from September and the publisher calls out for more brand partners that share its mission to make reading accessible, inclusive and fun.

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ENDS
For more information please contact:
Divia Kainth – Senior Marketing and Publicity Executive
[email protected]

Sweet Cherry Publishing is an award-winning independent children’s book publisher based in Leicester. We believe that all children should have access to great stories and aim to make reading fun for children aged between 0 and 14.