Dennis Publishing breaks into children’s market with Berty Squiggles

By John Freeman on September 6, 2013

Dennis Publishing, also publishers of Viz, have launched Berty Squiggles – a colouring and activity title – which represents Dennis’ first venture into the children’s market in the company’s 40-year history.

Berty Squiggles, a new title aimed at children of 4-7 years is on sale now in WH Smith, price £2.99. With an initial print run of 40,000, Dennis says it is confident that it fills a gap in the children’s market.

“Within the MagBook division, we look to innovate and produce titles that cover new areas. ABC figures over the past two years demonstrate that parents regard magazines as powerful education tools for children, so we developed a product that would both entertain and help educate kids,” said Dharmesh Mistry, Dennis MagBook Publisher.

“Kerem Kolcak, our MagBook Production Manager, came up with the concept of creating an activity title. After further research into what children and their parents looked for in a mag, he established the need to create a specific character that children would warm to, and so Berty Squiggles, a jet-setting dog was born.”

The first issue of Berty Squiggles Colouring & Scribbles, which includes a set of free crayons, is designed to develop a child’s creative side – using colouring and drawing activities to stimulate learning. Children can learn how to match colours on Page 8, read a story on Page 22 and even make their own Berty to play with for extra fun on Page 34.

Berty Squiggles has been launched by Dennis’s in-house bookazine business, MagBook. For more information, go to www.magbooks.com

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.