It looks like TokyoPop isn’t done expanding the comic book market just yet. They’ve just announced a Junior Cine-Manga line focusing on an even younger audience than normal. Among the properties they’ve locked into contracts are Sesame Street and My Little Pony. No word yet on whether Easy Reader and the rest of the Electric Company gang have been approached.

“TOKYOPOP has done a fantastic job of bringing Hasbro’s MY LITTLE PONY brand to life through its Jr. Cine-Manga books,” said Tom Klusaritz, VP Licensing and New Business Development. “With these books, MY LITTLE PONY fans will have a new way to enjoy their favorite pony characters.”

Sesame Workshop’s education experts agree. Anna Housley Juster, Director of Content for Sesame Street, explains that the unique storybook format can promote extended storytelling. “The vivid photographs and printed words evoke the magic of the spoken word and engaging dialogue,” says Housley Juster, who conducts frequent testing with preschoolers while performing research for the show. “As children and caregivers read together, children who are already reading can take on various roles with diverse voices.”

Younger kids benefit, too, says Juster. “Those younger children can develop new character voices as well; gradually learning to tell the story as it is written and making up words of their own.” The My Little Pony: Friends Are Never Far Away; Sesame Street: Elmo and Zoe Fly a Kite and Sesame Street: Happy, Healthy Monsters Cine-Manga will be available in bookstores everywhere in July.

Comics