Tuesday, October 6, 2009

TV News: Cartoon Network Enterprises Expands Publishing Program for Ben 10 Alien Force



Scholastic to Publish Novelizations, Handbooks and More for Hit Boys Action Series,
While Modern Publishing Renews Deal for Color and Activity Books



Reading just got a lot more action-packed as Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) announced today an expanded publishing program for its leading boys brand, Ben 10 Alien Force. The global licensing and merchandising arm for the television network has signed Scholastic, which will publish a full line of readers, novelizations, handbooks and chapter books for Ben 10 Alien Force. The new publishing program will be launched across all tiers of retail this fall. Scholastic joins Modern Publishing, which recently renewed its deal with CNE for color and activity books based on Ben 10 Alien Force, and Del Ray Manga, an imprint of Random House, for manga and cine-manga that is currently available at retailers nationwide.

“We have had great success with the Ben 10 publishing program thanks to the rich content from the series and expansiveness of the Ben 10 universe,” said Christina Miller, senior vice president of CNE. “As Ben 10 continues to take root as an evergreen brand in the boys action category, having strong programs in place with the right partners will continue to be critical to our ongoing success, and adding Scholastic to our roster is a tremendous opportunity to deepen our publishing product for the brand.”

“We are thrilled to add Ben 10 to our licensed publishing list and to continue our successful relationship with Cartoon Network,” said Debra Dorfman, VP, Publisher for paperbacks, novelty and licensing, Scholastic Trade book publishing. “Ben’s world, complete with aliens, adventure, and mystery, is rich with the best kind of storytelling that Scholastic looks for in a successful book series for young readers.”

As a top-rated Cartoon Network original series for boys, Ben 10 Alien Force continues the Ben 10 saga and picks up the story five years later when 15-year-old Ben Tennyson chooses to once again put on the OMNITRIX and discovers that he can now transform him into 10 brand new aliens. Anchored by a full toy line from Bandai America, the Ben 10 Alien Force product line also includes apparel, interactive, home entertainment, consumer electronics and more.

Created by Man of Action and produced at Cartoon Network Studios, the third season of the Ben 10 Alien Force series recently debuted on Cartoon Network and currently premieres on Friday nights 8:30 a.m. (ET/PT) with replays throughout the week, and the highly-anticipated live action movie, Ben 10 Alien Swarm will debut on the network in November.

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