Canadian prodco 9 Story Media Group has inked a co-development deal with New York-based Trustbridge Entertainment to create animated programs for a pair of children’s book series. 

Under the agreement, the two partners will co-produce animation for Matt Tavares’ holiday picture book Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever and the comedy book series Judy Moody by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Peter Reynolds. 

9 Story’s Brown Bag Films studio will handle the animation with the prodco’s distribution division managing worldwide sales (excluding China). Meanwhile, Trustbridge will hold the global merchandising and licensing rights to both projects. 

The first book in the Judy Moody series Judy Moody Was in a Mood was published in 2000 by the Trustbridge-owned publisher Candlewick Press. To date, copies of the original 15-book series and its three spin-offs have been printed more than 43 million times worldwide across 26 languages. This is the second adaptation of the books following the release of the Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer live-action feature film from LA-based prodco Smokewood Entertainment in 2011. 

Meanwhile, Candlewick first published Tavares’ Dasher book in 2019, which made the New York Times Best Seller list. The story follows the adventure of a young reindeer who goes from travelling around the world with her family as part of the circus to fulfilling her dream of pulling Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Tavares published a sequel to the story, Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas, last year.