Data from Nielsen Book shows that 51 of the top 100 books are fiction titles, up from 46 in 2017.
Authors such as David Walliams, J. K. Rowling and Tom Fletcher are gaining popularity among children in book sales in the UK, according to the latest data from Nielsen.
While in 2009, annuals took up the largest share of the top 100 bestselling list, that number has continued to shrink, while fiction has steadily grown from just 19 titles in 2009 to over half last year.
Having experienced a slight fall in the list in 2016-17, preschool and early learning has also regained popularity, taking up a 25 of the top 100 children’s books in 2018.
Speaking at Brand Licensing Europe earlier this month, Hazel Kenyon, book research director, UK & Ireland, Nielsen Book, commented: “If we look at the top 100 bestselling children’s books over the last ten years, back in 2009, annuals were a huge property in children’s books, but they just haven’t been able to replicate that again in getting into the top children’s books.
“Instead, when you look at an annual top 100 bestselling children’s books, over half now come from fiction, including David Walliams, J. K. Rowling, Tom Fletcher, Liz Pichon, Jeff Kinney, showing that getting a story to a child really is still very popular.”
Of the total children’s book market, 37% of sales came from licensed brands in 2018, a slight drop from previous two years, which had peaks due to the launch of The Cursed Child.
Alongside traditional licensed properties, Nielsen is also seeing an increase in the number of what it calls ‘branded authors’ – writers such as David Walliams and J. K. Rowling, who act in a similar way a brand.
Discussing authors as brands, Hazel explained: “Children, parents and buyers of children’s books alike, will treat those brand authors in the same way as they treat a brand – with brand loyalty. They will buy that author no matter what they are writing about, and quite often, they’re not series books, they’re very different books.”
In fact David Walliams was the bestselling children’s book brand in 2018, with £17.1million in sales. A close second was Harry Potter, with £14.4m and Diary of a Wimpy Kid took third place with £6m. The first ‘traditional’ licensed property on the list in 2018, was Peppa Pig with £5.3m.
The remainder of the list comprised:
5. Tom Gates – £4.3m
6. Roald Dahl – £3.5m
7. That’s not my… – £3m
8. Football – £2.8m
9. Sticker Dolly Dressing – £2.3m
10. PAW Patrol – £2.2m
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