Beginning this spring, Udon Entertainment will release Udon Kids, a new line of manga adventures for children and the young at heart. Readers seeking kid-friendly content will find plenty to enjoy in upcoming series about wizards, fairies, baseball-playing ninjas and swan-shaped spaceships.

Erik Ko and Jim Zubkavich of Udon see great potential in manga for a younger generation. “Manga's incredible growth amongst young readers is a testament to its ability to grab the attention of readers and create a loyal reading audience. This generation of readers identify with the stories, characters and art style showcased in manga. The teen or adult readers of a few years ago now have younger cousins, nieces, nephews or even sons and daughters who are the perfect age for discovering manga. Now, instead of having to wait until they're older, they can read manga that's completely age-appropriate and just as exciting. It's a way for manga fans to bring their hobby to the next young generation as well as encourage the joy of reading and art.”

Featuring cute, clear artwork and young protagonists which kids can relate to, the series will include:

The Big Adventures of Majoko(b/w, $7.99) The heart-warming adventures of Nana, a shy girl who becomes best friends with Majoko, a little wizard girl who lives in a parallel world. Their friendship grows as they share adventures both in the ordinary world and Majoko’s Land of Magic.
	Ninja Baseball Kyuma (b/w, $7.99) A Bad News Bears-type baseball team signs up a ninja kid to help them win – but he doesn’t know how to play baseball! Can his ninja skills make up for his baseball blunders?
Fairy Idol Kanon (b/w, $7.99) Through enduring friendship and help from a magical fairy, schoolgirl Kanon and her friends might just become Japan’s next pop music sensation.
	Swans in Space (color, $8.99) A goofy, comic adventure about an ordinary girl who gets sucked into space by a weird schoolmate to patrol the universe aboard a swan-shaped spaceship.

On the selection of titles, Ko and Zubkavich explained: “We carefully researched manga for young readers and chose these four because they had eye-catching artwork, strong stories and represented a wonderful variety of genres which most mainstream comics don't currently cover yet are very popular in fiction - sports, fantasy, science fiction and music. With this kind of variety, we can show the English-reading audience the full potential of kid's manga.”

Janna Morishima, director of Diamond Kids Group, is enthusiastic about what Udon Kids will bring to the world of kids’ comics. “I am incredibly excited about the Udon Kids line because I think it's bringing something brand-new and badly needed to the children's book market: funny, original manga stories aimed squarely at kids. Not only are the stories great -- the artwork is fantastic. You really couldn't get any cuter or more charming!”

Older manga fans may also be attracted to the fantastic settings, adventurous plots and singular style of these stories.

The Big Adventures of Majoko and Ninja Baseball Kyuma will both launch in April 2009, with Fairy Idol Kanon launching the following May and the first full color volume of Swans in Space launching in June 2009. New titles in each series will be released quarterly.

Udon Kids will also have a dedicated webpage: www.mangaforkids.com, which will include games and trivia for kids, as well as lesson plans and information for parents and educators, which will stress the educational value of manga. According to Ko and Zubkavich, “Manga's popular simplistic style, iconic appealing shapes and strong storytelling make it an ideal introduction to the world of comics and storytelling for young readers. Many manga fans become voracious readers and artists as they explore their creativity and use the stories they've read as a springboard for their imagination.”