Looking to capitalize on a growing interest in manga on the part of librarians and educators, Y.Kids, an educational imprint of the Korean publisher YoungJin., has launched a line of educational manga for ages 9-12, aimed at the U.S. market, that is available in stores now.

Earlier this summer, Y.Kids released two books in its new Manga Literary Classics line—Treasure Island, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, and Little Women, a comics version of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. In July the company released a manga edition of Gulliver’s Travels, with three more classic adaptations slated for January 2008.

Alongside manga literature, Y.Kids is also publishing a series of comics biographies called Great Figures in History. So far this summer, graphic biographies of Einstein, Gandhi and Marie Curie have been released. Another three books—including ones on Nelson Mandela, Leonardo da Vinci and Mother Teresa—will be published in February 2008.

YoungJin.com’s director of international sales and marketing, Bill Marciniak, said that the publisher doesn’t expect Y.Kids comics to become classroom texts, but he does believe that the books will work well as supplementary materials and as a draw for reluctant readers. “Lots of educators are looking to comics to get kids interested and into reading,” he explained. And while Japanese comics have proven popular with young readers, teachers and librarians sometimes question the value of the content in some popular manga series. “What I’m hearing from teachers is that there are [manga] out there that they don’t find appropriate. [Y.Kids manga] is safe manga. It’s classic stories. It may interest kids in reading the original at a later date.”

All Y.kids books are original material, produced specifically for the English-speaking market in left-to-right reading format and in full color. Marciniak said he expects this will make Y.kids material more palatable for educators and give the publisher a competitive advantage.

“We’re not bringing over existing material,” said Marciniak. “We’re doing stuff that we think will be a better fit for the English-language market.”

In South Korea, YoungJin.com publishes computer books as well as trade and academic books, and South Korea has a tradition of using comics in the classroom. Originally the parent company launched Y.Kids in 2005, starting with comics about math, science and history. But the company lacked proper marketing and a publicity director experienced in the U.S. market, Marciniak said, and the books languished. These days, Marciniak said, he is touring book conventions and working closely with the Y.Kids distributor, IPG, to get the books out to libraries and schools. In addition Y.Kids will relaunch its line of science, math and history books in 2008.

In addition to traditional bricks and mortar stores, Y.Kids is exploring marketing its titles through school catalogues as well as through home schooling channels like Lakeshore Learning. “Home-schoolers look for the same type of material that teachers look for,” Marciniak said. And Y.Kids books are published with supplemental parent/teacher guides featuring activities, discussion questions and resources.

“There is a huge market for learning aids,” said Marciniak. “That’s the market we want to hit.”