Random House Children's Screen Entertainment has secured options for four projects based on Random House kids' books and characters: "Fish-Head Steve" by Jamie Smart, the "Gargoyle" series by Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler, the "Princess Poppy" books by Janey Louise Jones and the "Charlie Small" series by Nick Ward.

In February, Random House also secured media rights to "Monster Republic" by Ben Horton from Hothouse. 

"Fish-Head Steve" is a cartoon comic strip, which will now be developed for TV animation and presented in September at Cartoon Forum. It is a quirky story of a group of friends who all wake up with bizarre new heads and their attempts to find out exactly what is the cause of their freakish new features.   

"Gargoylz" will be developed into live-action CGI for TV aimed at 6 year olds. Script and pilot development are under way and a unique "Gargoylz" book will be created for World Book Day March 2011.

"Princess Poppy" will be developed for TV animation and "The Charlie Small" series will be developed into live-action CGI for film or TV. The series follows the adventures of an intrepid 8 year old, who has lived for more than 400 years as he tries to get back home. A special "Charlie Small" adventure, published for World Book Day this year, sold 115,000 copies.

"The quality and variety of short-listed books from Random House provides us with a unique advantage at a time when many broadcasters are focused on finding global properties," says Andrew Cole-Bulgin, partner and head of film and TV at RHCSE. "We can deliver global brands with an established commercial audience. The speed at which RHCSE has selected these properties is testament to our specialist research techniques and the willingness and enthusiasm of authors and agents alike. In a period of global austerity, our collaborative business model allows us to develop worldwide partnerships and co-productions that ensure not only commercial success for our brands but products with broad market appeal that will stand the test of time."