Preschool brand Deer Little Forest is extending further into the publishing world following a picture-book collaboration between author Alison Green and illustrator/brand creator Jo Rose.

The 32-page book will be penned by Green and illustrated by Rose, who created the original Deer Little Forest hand-illustrated characters, which include Forest Flo and her band of friends.

Green, publisher of Scholastic Children’s Books UK imprint Alison Green Books, is the author of such children’s books as The Fox in the Dark, which has been translated into nine languages. She was previously publishing director of Books for Young Children at Macmillan Children’s Books, where she was the commissioning editor of children’s classic The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

The Deer Little Forest book deal comes as the property is being developed by UK-based King Rollo Films (Poppy Cat, Humf) as a 52 x 11-minute animated preschool TV series. The brand has been steadily building its licensing presence throughout Europe, and it will soon inspire the US launch of a mobile game. All rights are managed by Lisa Hryniewicz at Koko Media.