12 Jun 08

Little Books for Dad and Grandad top sales charts

Purple Ronnie has long been a Father’s Day favourite, but this year he has outdone himself. His two hit books, Purple Ronnie's Little Book for a Smashing Dad and Purple Ronnie's Little Book for a Smashing Grandad, are well ahead in the race to top the Father’s Day sales charts.

Both books have been flying off the shelves. In fact, Purple Ronnie's Little Book for a Smashing Dad is at Number One and Purple Ronnie's Little Book for a Smashing Grandad is at Number Two in the Sunday Times chart well before the end of the week leading up to Father’s Day.

It’s an impressive feat. But there has been a lot of hard work behind this success. Publisher Pan Macmillan and Coolabi, the company that owns and licenses Purple Ronnie, put in a major push for both titles in the run-up to Father’s Day, getting an unprecedented number of copies into the shops for a variety of Father's Day promotions. The perennial popularity of Giles Andreae’s cheeky cartoon favourite did the rest.

Janet Woodward, Head of Licensing with Coolabi, says: “Pan Macmillan has done a wonderful job promoting these titles and meeting even bigger than expected demand. And of course the success of these books is a reminder of the unique style and lasting popularity of Purple Ronnie himself.”