Tokyopop line expansion

Posted on May 8, 2006 by Brigid Alverson

The Beat has the latest Tokyopop scoop: They’re expanding into easy readers with Manga Chapters, a line of chapter books aimed at the 6 to 9 age group and Manga Readers, chapter books for the 8 to 12 crowd. As David Welsh observes, this is a good idea but not exactly earth-shattering. The books sound like they will basically be prose books with a liberal dose of manga and manga-style illustrations. If that sounds weird, then you don’t have pre-teens in your house who are addicted to the W.I.T.C.H. books.

Here’s the meat of the press release:

Launching in September of 2006, Manga Chapters combine two immensely popular formats: chapter books for children who are beginning to read-and manga, the fastest-growing category in the publishing industry. These 96-page books, competitively priced at $4.99, contain simple yet engaging storylines, liberally dosed with spot illustrations and manga that boost reading comprehension while visually engaging the reader.

Debut titles in the Manga Chapters program include: The Grosse Adventures: The Good, The Bad & The Gassy, created by Annie Auerbach, the author of more than 90 books for children (including the New York Times best-seller Bob’s Egg Hunt), and from Eisner Award-Nominee Alex de Campi, Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent-the perfect sci-fi series for young girls and boys.

Manga Readers, the next level of books in TOKYOPOP’s kids’ manga program, are designed for mid-grade readers and modestly priced at $5.99. This new, innovative line features youth-oriented stories, in an easy-to-digest 96-page format-a perfect follow-up to Manga Chapters. Scheduled for release in July 2006 are three diverse titles: Alex de Campi’s Kat & Mouse, a tale of two girls who use science and math to solve mysteries; Josh Elder’s Mail Order Ninja, which chronicles the adventure of a boy and his new ninja companion, and from Eisner Award-winner Keith Giffen and comic veteran Shannon Denton (X-Men and Spider-Man), Zapt!-the story of a 12-year-old who tries to squeeze in his duties as an intergalactic policeman between homework and chores.

About Brigid Alverson

Brigid Alverson has been reading comics since she was 4. After earning an MFA in printmaking, she headed to New York to become a famous artist but ended up working with words instead of pictures, first as a book editor and later as a newspaper reporter. She started MangaBlog to keep track of her daughters’ reading habits and now covers manga, comics and graphic novels as a freelancer for School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Comics Week, Comic Book Resources, the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, and Robot 6. She also edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. Now settled in the outskirts of Boston, Brigid is married to a physicist and has two daughters.
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