I still remember the exact feeling of getting lost in a book as a kid - curled up somewhere cosy, completely gone, the rest of the world just... paused. My parents were both teachers, so books were everywhere in our house growing up. Reading wasn't a "nice to have" for us, it was the main event. It's where I first fell in love with colour, with stories, with the idea that you could build a whole world out of nothing but paper and imagination.
So when I tell you that today's news feels like a genuine pinch-me moment, I really mean it.
I'm beyond thrilled to share that Eleanor Bowmer is going into partnership with Bloomsbury Children's Books - yes, the very same Bloomsbury behind Harry Potter, and home to some of the most brilliant, colourful storytelling out there. We're creating not one, but two series of board books together, starting with Playtime Makes Me Happy! and Christmas Makes Me Happy!, landing on shelves this September.
How we got here
If you've followed EB for a while, you'll know this brand has never really been about "just" products. From day one, it's been about joy - finding it, spreading it, wrapping it up in colour and putting it into people's everyday lives. Mugs, prints, kitchenware, stationery - it was always really a vehicle for something bigger.
Books feel like the most natural next chapter I could possibly write (pun very much intended). Before EB was on shelves at John Lewis or Selfridges, before the mugs or the prints, there were stories. My own kids are growing up surrounded by books the same way I did, and getting to hand them something with my name - and my world - on the cover is something I genuinely never thought I'd get to say out loud.
What we're making
Playtime Makes Me Happy! and Christmas Makes Me Happy! kick off our Makes Me Happy series - bright, bold, joy-filled board books designed to be loved by little hands and grown-up eyes alike. They've got mirror endings built in, so children can see themselves in the story, and they're designed to support early literacy and fine motor skills while sneaking in a few of those small, meaningful moments between kids and the adults who read to them. And because it's still very much an Eleanor Bowmer product at heart - they're just as gorgeous to display as they are to read.
And there's more coming. In January 2027, we'll be launching Little Star Signs - a twelve-book series, one for every zodiac sign, each one a celebration of what makes a child uniquely themselves. Beautifully finished with sprayed edges, these are little books designed to be kept, collected and gifted for years to come.
Why this matters to me
I've built this brand on the belief that colour and joy aren't frivolous - they're essential. They make ordinary days feel a little brighter. Books do exactly the same thing, just from the very first page of someone's life. Getting to combine those two things - the world I've spent years building, and the thing that shaped me most as a child - with a publisher as brilliant and respected as Bloomsbury, is honestly more than I could have dreamed up for this brand.
To every single one of you who has followed this journey from a small design studio to shop shelves across the UK, US and beyond - thank you. This one's for you, and for every little reader who's about to discover that reading really can make you happy.
Playtime Makes Me Happy! and Christmas Makes Me Happy! publish with Bloomsbury Children's Books 24th September 2026 with Little Star Signs following in January 2027.
Eleanor x
