According to Deadline, MGM will  to adapt the popular picture book series Where’s Waldo into a live-action movie.

MGM motion picture group president Jonathan Glickman has secured the film rights to the franchise. Who would you cast as Waldo?

Here’s more from the article: “Created by Martin Handford and first published in 1987, Where’s Waldo? is one of the most recognizable characters in the world and a pop-culture icon. A publishing phenomenon with more than 55 million books sold worldwide from New York to Sydney to London to Tokyo, Where’s Waldo books are available in more than thirty-eight countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages. Where’s Waldo has also been spotted in gaming, selling more than 4.6+ million Apps for iPhone and iPad.”

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Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia (1977) and the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, has written a new middle-grade novel called The Flint Heart. The 304-page book has been “freely abridged” from Eden Phillpotts‘ 1910 fantasy.

It will be released on September 27th. John Paterson Sr. worked on this title with his wife. The two have collaborated on several book projects in the past including Blueberries for the Queen (2004).

The trailer embedded above offers a glimpse into the book’s illustrations. John Rocco, known for creating the covers of Rick Riordan‘s Percy Jackson series, illustrated the book. According to the release, Bedrock Studios and Arcady Bay Entertainment have already snatched up The Flint Heart for a feature film adaptation.

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In his newest Weekend Adviser column, Robert Hughes looks at the latest generation of pop-up books. With Harry Potter‘s final volume now old news, publishers in the $2.5 billion children’s book industry are trying new tricks. They are putting out vintage-looking picture books that are packed with extras such as cards, maps, letters and even a facsimile X-ray plate or model ship.

On Tuesday, Candlewick Press publishes MYTHOLOGY (pictured to the right) the latest in a series that began with DRAGONOLOGY in 2003 and continued with PIRATEOLOGY, EGYPTOLOGY and WIZARDOLOGY. The titles and their spinoffs have sold more than six million copies, according to Karen Lotz, president and publisher, and the series has inspired imitators. Candlewick and others now refer to the entire genre as “ology” books, which are supposedly written by writers with Victorian-sounding names but are actually penned by series editor Dugald Steer.

These titles, Hughes says, can cost two to three times as much to produce as a standard picture book, yet typically are priced at $20, just $5 more. So publishers need to sell them in volume to make a profit. MYTHOLOGY has announced a first printing of 400,000 – a gamble in light of other titles, like BEATRIX POTTER: A JOURNAL (which tied into the movie starring Renee Zellweger) not doing so well. But if it does, then like other enhanced picture books, it can sell in a standard and steady way.