The deal sees Puffin Books acting as the U.K. publisher and controling all foreign publishing rights. Grosset & Dunlap will act as the publishing partner in North America. The Penguin Group plans a varied publishing program for the brand, including storybooks, novelty books, electronic books, audio books and manuals.

"Tinga Tinga Tales" is a new animated series (52x11) being produced by Tiger Aspect Productions in partnership with children's broadcasters CBeebies in the U.K. and Playhouse Disney in the U.S. The style of the production is based upon the Tinga Tinga art of Tanzania. All images in the series are hand painted by local African artists and then computer animated to produce a unique visual experience.

"The strength of Puffin's product development, international distribution and marketing capabilities make it the ideal global publishing partner for Tinga Tinga Tales," says Andrew Kerr, ER's executive director, marketing and consumer products, U.K. and international. "With today's announcement ER will begin to assemble a group of key global and pan-regional consumer product partners for the brand, anchored by the strength of the Puffin relationship. With Penguin globally, CBeebies in the U.K. and Playhouse Disney in the U.S. already among the brand's key partners, Tinga Tinga Tales is brilliantly positioned to become a truly global preschool brand in the years to come."