Macmillan Children’s Books has announced a new apparel deal celebrating the story “Dear Zoo,” by Rod Campbell.

A range of baby clothing has been developed by Paul Dennicci for F&F at Tesco, which has been launched in 165 stores nationwide. This initial collection of six garments, including vests, bibs and a sleeping bag designed for babies aged 0-24 months. 

The launch reflects the renewed interest in “Dear Zoo” and builds on the success of core licensing partners for the brand including Hacche Retail, Marks & Spencer, Milly & Flynn, Neviti and Paul Lamond Games.

“We brought the licensing of ‘Dear Zoo’ in-house to take full advantage of the popularity of this evergreen and well-loved book,” says Stephanie Barton, publisher, Macmillan Children’s Books. “We are targeting a small number of core product categories to build on the success of our current, long-standing licensing partners. We’ve had such a wonderful response to ‘Dear Zoo,’ in part due to the wonderful new assets that Rod Campbell himself and the team at Macmillan have created. We are delighted with Tesco’s commitment and enthusiasm and I know that ‘Dear Zoo’ readers and their parents will be very excited by these lovely new products.”

With World Book Day 2021 already in mind, Macmillan Children’s Books is intending to add to the list of “Dear Zoo” licensees across the core dressing up, soft toy, nursery, gifting and stationery sectors shortly. Macmillan Children’s Books has been managing the brand’s licensing program in-house since early 2019.