Build-A-Bear Entertainment is kickstarting a new chapter in its franchising playbook, signing an overall deal with Macmillan-owned publisher Odd Dot.

The companies will work together to create picture books, chapter books, board books, sticker and activity books based on Build-A-Bear IPs including Honey Girls, a plush line that launched in 2015 (pictured) and was adapted as a live-action film in 2021. Odd Dot will also publish books based on Build-A-Bear’s upcoming holiday film Glisten and the Merry Mission, which is slated for a Christmas 2023 release.

Foundation Media Partners structured the deal and will oversee the publishing plan for Build-A-Bear with Odd Dot’s Nathalie LeDu.

Based in Missouri, Build-A-Bear is on a bit of a roll, announcing profitable quarterly results last month. Q4 revenue was up 11.6% to US$145.1 million, compared to the same period in 2021 (US$130 million). Annual revenue also grew by double digits (13.7%) to nearly US$468 million in 2022, compared to US$411.5 million in 2021. 

Build-A-Bear has been slowly ramping up its content pipeline since establishing an entertainment division in 2019. The company’s development slate includes a film adaptation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in partnership with Reese Witherspoon’s prodco Hello Sunshine.