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Who says print is dead? Nintendo turns its attention to kids’ activity books

Steven Petite
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super mario bros
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nintendo and book publisher Random House have partnered to produce a series of activity books for children. Nintendo announced the partnership in a post on its website. The books will feature well-known franchises like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, and will be published by Random House Books for Young Readers in the U.S., a Random House Children’s Books imprint, and Penguin Random House U.K. overseas.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Nintendo to bring the whimsy and adventure of these worlds to the imaginations of our young readers,” said Dennis Shealy, the imprint’s editorial director.“These activity books will let both new and established fans experience Nintendo characters in a whole new way.”

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Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of strategic initiatives added, “This publishing partnership is an exciting way to bring the colorful worlds of Nintendo to young readers while encouraging creativity. We are always looking for ways to share our fun-loving characters with kids and families in unique ways.”

It’s apparent that this partnership has been in the works for awhile. Earlier this year, Random House published a pair of sticker books, one Mario, one Zelda, aimed at youngsters. The books included oodles of stickers and activities for kids. Both books currently have five star ratings on Amazon.

The first titles that will release following the partnership announcement will be Mario Time! and Link’s Book of Adventure. Both books release on July 3 in hardcover for $10. Additionally, the Splatoon Official Sticker Book will land in trade paperback format on July 24 for $13. All books in the series include full color pages, a variety of activities such as mazes, puzzles, and trivia, and stickers. Activity books based on the Animal Crossing franchise are also in the pipeline.

The books are aimed at young children from the ages of 4 to 9. While there’s no shortage of activity and coloring books out there, parents of young Nintendo fans are sure to be excited for this series. Nintendo has occasionally licensed children’s books like the 1990 Golden Book Super Mario Bros.: Trapped in the Perilous Pit, but never activity books. Unsurprisingly, there’s no shortage of unlicensed knockoffs available for purchase online. We imagine the officially licensed Nintendo activity books will be the way to go, though.

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Steven Petite
Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
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