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Pullman pulls in punters

10.01.08

Annuals, Philip Pullman and TV tie-ins were the big winners this Christmas, dominating sales for children’s booksellers.

Shops across the board reported hefty annuals sales, with the Doctor Who Annual coming out top for the second year in a row, shifting 29,824 copies through Nielsen BookScan in the week to 22nd December, closely followed by the Beano Annual (28,506). In total, there were nine annuals in the top 20 children's list in the week to 22nd December, all heavily discounted.

Pullman also had a very merry Christmas, with four titles in the top 20: all three books in the His Dark Materials trilogy, plus The Golden Compass film tie-in, which was the children's Christmas number one, selling 38,298. Paul Rutherford, general manager of Borders Birmingham, said: "Pullman is quickly becoming the new J K Rowling. The adult and kids’ jackets both did really well for us."

Several TV tie-ins performed well. Borders Watford general manager Mike Rawling said In the Night Garden had been "unstoppable", and added: "The High School Musical series has been good for Borders, mainly because there are so many tie-ins. It's still a strong performer, even after Christmas."

Waterstone's children's buying manager Sarah Clarke said that highlights for the chain, outside the "obvious bestsellers", included Stephanie Meyer's teen vampire romance Eclipse and hardback picture book Puff the Magic Dragon. She added: "A children's reference title that was as amusing as it was informative was Nick Sharratt's Gooey, Chewy, Rumble, Plop Book."

Many independents pushed titles from outside the bestsellers. Vanessa Robertson, owner of new Edinburgh indie The Children's Bookshop, said: "We don't discount, so we can’t compete with chains on the Pullmans and the Horowitzes." Picture books and pop-up worked "extremely well" for the shop, with highlights including Iggy Peck, Architect and pop-up artist Robert Sabuda's and Matthew Reinhart's Star Wars tie-in. 

Childrens Philip Pullman Christmas

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