Piemme and Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori have announced the launch of an original editorial concept: Focus Geronimo Stilton, a new monthly for children between the ages of 6 and 10. The magazine, edited by Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, will be on newsstands from Saturday 7 August.

This joint initiative by the two publishing houses aims to combine and valorise the great experience of both in the children’s segment.

“Focus Geronimo Stilton is really something new in the panorama of editorial products for children. And it marks the first time that an international publishing phenomenon and a leading publisher of magazines for younger readers have joined forces,” declared Giacomo Moletto, managing director of Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori. “We are proud to be able to exploit the experience and success of Focus Junior for such an innovative format, full of educational themes and content, that also brings together fun and knowledge,” Moletto concluded.

“We are delighted with this opportunity to work with Focus Junior, which will allow Geronimo Stilton to open up a new channel of communication with his young readers, helping them to develop their imagination and creativity through reading, and facilitating learning and individual growth while having fun,” explained Laura Donnini, managing director of Piemme.

Piemme will contribute its most celebrated personality, the mouse Geronimo Stilton: a truly extraordinary publishing phenomenon which, since 2000, when Piemme published the first books, has become famous not only in Italy but around the world and can now be considered a “classic”, that will both continue to grow and is destined to last well into the future.

Translated into 35 languages, the books have sold more than 20 million copies in Italy alone, and more than 40 million worldwide.

Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori meanwhile will contribute its leadership position in magazines for children. With a circulation of 160,000 copies, Focus Junior is Italy’s top monthly for young readers and is conceived as an educational and entertaining tool that allows kids to “have fun learning”.

THE CONTENT

The content mix of the new monthly is a perfect balance of fun and learning. The character of Geronimo Stilton and his numerous family members accompany readers through pages of games, jokes, cartoons and English, as well as diversions into the worlds of art, history, literature and, of course, science.

The magazine has 64 pages and will sell for €3.50 with, as a gift, the poster of the “Isola dei topi”. The planned print run for the first issue is of 150,000 copies.

Advertising sales for Focus Geronimo Stilton are managed by PRS.