Surge Licensing has signed TOMY as the global master toy partner for Diane Alber’s A Little SPOT book series. 

“The stressors associated with the pandemic and global events have only increased the need for social/emotional learning tools to teach children how to handle their feeling in a healthy way,” says Diane Alber, author, A Little SPOT book series. “I’m delighted that TOMY is our global partner to create new toys for Little SPOT that will help to support kids and families to prepare for the challenges of the world.” 

Initially, TOMY will develop a broad range of branded social/emotional learning-focused (SEL) products, including plastic figures and plush toys, with and without added features and technology. TOMY will also distribute the Amazon book plus plush box sets to brick-and-mortar chains globally. The new products will be available online and direct-to-consumer in the first half of 2023 followed by brick-and-mortar stores later that year.  

“Diane has created a massive body of work appealing to parents, their children and teachers alike, carefully crafted to make not only teaching SEL fun, but learning it too,” says Elan Freedman, executive vice president, Surge Licensing. “TOMY is the ideal partner and platform for Diane to design new experiences for children to explore and understand their emotions, become better humans and learn to communicate effectively.” 

“Infant and preschool is well anchored in TOMY’s historical DNA, and we have deep expertise in successfully launching preschool brands,” says Morgan Weyl, managing director, licensing and global development, TOMY. “We will bring Diane’s highly inspiring and beloved series to life in playthings that can help children practice effective communication in a fun and natural way. TOMY’s mission is to make the world smile, so helping children learn to express themselves through play with the Little SPOT brand is perfectly aligned to the happy, healthy development we fully embrace in our daily work.”