On the Books: Winnie the Pooh is Britain's best-loved children's book

Winnie the Pooh tops a recent poll of Britain’s best-loved children’s books from the past 150 years. Oddly enough, neither JK Rowling’s nor Philip Pullman’s books made the list — maybe different Harry Potter books split the vote? Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which just barely made the date cutoff, landed at number two, followed by The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Hobbit, and The Gruffalo. [The Telegraph]

Penguin Random House announced its new logo, replacing the company’s 11-month-old interim logo. Alas, they’re missing the opportunity to rebrand as “Random Penguin House.” “The new corporate wordmark underscores the importance of the written word to the company’s culture and work and will most often be paired with one of Penguin Random House’s 250 widely recognized and respected publishing divisions, imprints, and brands,” the company said in a press release. The publisher also put together a snazzy new animation video showing how its logo will be combined with its different divisions — check it out at the link. [Penguin Random House]

The first BookCon was a big success, if a chaotic one. Everyone seems to agree that the new convention, attached to BookExpo, could have been organized better — but the event was a sellout, alleviating fears that it wouldn’t be successful. Organizers were forced to cap attendance at 10,000, and all of the events in the 1,500 person Special Events Hall were filled up. With BookCon, publishers are moving to more consumer-friendly, and not just vendor-friendly, strategies. “It’s been great to engage with readers directly,” said Little, Brown online marketing director Miriam Parker. “We really feel like booksellers, handselling.” [Publishers Weekly]

Two women from Texas are suing the Writer’s Coffee Shop for a share of Fifty Shades of Grey profits. The Writer’s Coffee Shop, owned by Amanda Hayward, is the fanfiction site E.L. James used to publish her trilogy before getting a book deal. According to the suit, Hayward created a business entity to handle the profits from the book series, cutting profits from Jenny Pedroza, one of the site’s founders, and Christa Beebe, a former staffer at Random House in the process. [LA Times]