It’s Chicken Soup for the Soul Day: 10 facts about the best-selling series you’ve probably never read

Chicken soup, whether from a can, Grandma, Seamless or the diner down the street, is arguably the poster child of comfort food. And don’t we all need a huge bowl of comfort right about now?

Because chicken soup conjures up such pleasant, soothing feelings is the very reason the creators behind the longtime best-selling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book series named it such, and it just so happens that today, Nov. 12, is National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day.

You’ve undoubtedly heard of this series and maybe even cracked a joke about its endless supply of topics or have seen at least one in every airport or drugstore you’ve ever been in, but its success is actually something to admire.

Here are 10 things you never knew you needed to know about “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”

1.Motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen founded the series in 1993 with a 101-story anthology published by Peter Vegso.

2.More than 250 titles have since been published, selling more than 110 million copies in the U.S. and Canada and 500 million worldwide.

3. “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books are available in 100 countries and 43 languages.

4.According to a Harris Poll, 88.7 percent of people know of the series.

5. The company’s line of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul pet food is in more than 5,000 pet specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada.

6. In 2007, the original book was named one of the five most impactful books of the past 25 years by USA Today.

7. The original “Chicken Soup for the Soul” became the best-selling trade paperback even in 2008.

8. The company partnered with former Waldorf-Astoria chef John Doherty in 2013 on a line of wholesome, convenient and affordable foods from soups, obvs, to sauce.

9. Chicken Soup for the Soul is also a media company, with five weekly columns in syndication, more than 200 radio stations broadcasting to 65 percent of the country and a blog that nets more than 9.5 million monthly visitors.

10. In addition to celebrating the soul of any relative, life event, health issue or profession you could imagine, the series also boasts such installments as “What I Learned From the Dog,” “Best Mom Ever!” and, fittingly, “Chicken Soup for the Soul of America.”

Serve us up a big bowl, stat.