Scholastic and Magic Light Pictures have revealed Zog Day, an annual celebration to mark the 15th anniversary of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s dragon.
Zog Day will take place on Thursday 12 June and will celebrate the character’s qualities, with fans encouraged to ‘be more Zog’.
Throughout his adventures, Zog faces life’s bumps and set-backs with positivity, perseverance, resilience and help from his friends. His stories are about the importance of caring, kindness, friendship, encouragement and teamwork.
Published by Alison Green Books (an imprint of Scholastic) in 2010, Zog follows keen (yet accident-prone) Zog through dragon school and his friendship with Princess Pearl before they meet a knight and the trio become The Flying Doctors.
The books have been adapted into award-winning animated films by Magic Light which have premiered on Christmas Day to millions of viewers. Zog will continue to spread his wings in a new preschool series from Magic Light, commissioned by BBC Children’s and Education. The animated comedy adventure series will comprise 52 x 11’ episodes for 4-6 year olds.
In June, Julia Donaldson will launch the Zog Day celebrations at Warwick Castle as the castle unveils their new Zog live show and trail activities. Bookshop and school activities will run throughout the week.
The biggest Zog fans will be able to get their hands on a wide variety of celebratory merch this year, which will be available across a range of categories from clothing, gifting collectibles, chocolate from Cocoba, and a Fiery Fresh handwash from Carex. Several large retailers are listing apparel for this spring/summer season, including Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Tesco, Next and more.
Bookshops will blaze with orange as stores will be offered Zog Day packs including celebratory POS, activities and digital assets to mark the occasion with their customers. Families will be engaged through entertaining media, social competitions and brand partnerships.
Schools can access an exclusive free Zog Day event on Scholastic Schools Live starring Julia and Axel and will be offered packs filled with resources, activities and gold star reward charts.
Over 4.5 million ZOG books have sold worldwide and he is the most popular character created by Julia and Axel after The Gruffalo.
“It’s fantastic to see Zog flying into 2025 with lots of exciting activity for his 15th anniversary and the first ever Zog Day,” commented Michael Rose, joint ceo at Magic Light Pictures. “We’re really looking forward to be encouraging fans to ‘Be more Zog’ as we continue to build the brand in the lead up to our new series launch in 2026.”
Catherine Bell, md at Scholastic UK, added: “15 years since Zog bang-crash-thump landed into our hearts, we are thrilled to see Julia and Axel’s dragon soar further with exciting animation and licensing news. Zog Day is a perfect opportunity to celebrate Zog’s qualities of kindness, caring, resilience and bravery. We look forward to working with our partners on this special day and to seeing families, bookshops and schools explore all the ways to ‘Be More Zog’.”
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and on Instagram (@licensing_source).
