Toronto, Canada-based music and TV prodco Balmur Entertainment has entered into a joint venture with Canadian pubco Stoddart Publishing to form Balmur Book Publishing, which will publish titles for a variety of formats based on Balmur-produced kids properties. As per the agreement, which will also cover the adult nonfiction and gift book categories, Stoddart will help develop, manufacture, market and distribute Balmur titles worldwide. The first title to come out of BBP will be the Christmas-themed Timothy Tweedle, which will street in December. Timothy Tweedle the one-hour animated special, which Balmur subsidiary Evening Sky Productions is producing, is slated to air on the Disney Network in November (for more info, see ‘Up Next,’ page 38). Other titles following in 2001 include four books based on Balmur’s animated Hippo Tub Company series, which will debut on Canadian pubcaster CBC in January, and Trucktown, an animated series currently in production at Evening Sky.