The first four Drew Pendous titles from Sterling Children’s Books are slated to launch in 2018.

NORTH AMERICA–Family entertainment company Driver Digital has tapped Sterling Children’s Books to develop a series of graphic novels featuring Drew Pendous, a break-out character from Driver’s YouTube series “Cool School.”

Further details about the new novels have not been released; however, the first four titles are slated for publication in 2018.

“Cool School” is represented for licensing by The Licensing Group.

“This is an exciting and perfect fit for Driver and especially for our superhero Drew Pendous,” says Rob Kurtz, chief creative officer, Driver Digital. “We met with many publishers but Hanna Otero at Sterling really understood the reason kids love Drew. The comedic playfulness with which Drew and his buddies battle evil villains like the bad guy who makes it rain during recess was not lost on Hanna. We knew immediately that Drew had found the perfect home in the world of kids’ publishing. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Sterling in our first publishing deal based on our ‘Cool School’ series.”

Additionally, Driver Digital has partnered with DreamWorks to write, produce and distribute “That’s the Spirit” on YouTube. The 16-part series will support DreamWorks’ animated Netflix show “Spirit.”

The company also partnered with Sesame Studios to create a two-part children’s video that will star Elmo of “Sesame Street,” Marvie of “Sesame Studios” and Crafty Carol of “Cool School.”

Driver Digital is a youth and family entertainment studio and network that creates, produces and distributes kids and tween content on YouTube. Previously, Driver collaborated with companies like Mattel, Disney and Hasbro to create a number of brand integrations. Driver Digital’s sister company, Driver Media, is a production company working for major ad agencies and brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, AT&T, Microsoft and General Motors.