Readers' Poll: Best New All-Ages Manga for Kids

As promised, yet another year-end readers' poll for you! After spotlighting graphic novels for teen girls, teen boys, men and women, it's time to shine a light on manga geared for younger readers. Check out the 2008 Best New All-Ages Manga Readers Poll page for plot summaries, cover artwork and links for more info about each nominee and choose your favorite there, or scroll down to vote now.

Now, I'll be frank here -- there just wasn't a whole lotta manga geared for readers age 12 and younger published in 2008. I bent the rules a bit by adding a children's book, Dayan's Birthday to the nominee list because, well, I felt like that kid-friendly title for Dark Horse deserved a little more love in this small, but thankfully growing segment of the manga market. There more all-ages titles coming soon from VIZ Kids, Del Rey Manga and Udon , so it seems that there'll be much more to look forward to in 2009.

Sad to say, Broccoli Books closed its doors at the end of 2008, so unless other publishers pick these titles up, readers may not get to see the remaining volumes of Nui! and Koi Cupid. That's a shame, really, because those were two very cute series that deserved to find a larger tween audience.

Is your favorite manga for kids not included here? You can give your choice a chance to get in the running by adding your write-in vote in the comment space below or post it in the forums.

Ready to stand up and be counted? You can click on the links below to vote, or if you'd like to know more about the nominees, visit the poll page to to see more about the 10 manga nominated in this poll.. UPDATE: Polls closed on January 25, 2009, so stick around, the results will be announced soon.

1. Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Battle Begins! by Cartoon Network (Del Rey Manga)
2. COWA! by Akira Toriyama (Shonen Jump / VIZ Media)
3. Dayan's Birthday by Akiko Ikeda (Dark Horse)
4. Disney Fairies: Vidia and the Fairy Crown by Haruhi Kato (TokyoPop)
5. Koi Cupid by Mia Ikumi (Broccoli Books)
6. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Akira Himekawa (VIZ Kids / VIZ Media)
7. Nui! by Natsumi Mukai (Broccoli Books)
8. Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl Adventures by Shigekatsu Ihara (VIZ Kids / VIZ Media)
9. Sugar Princess by Hisaya Nakajo (Shojo Beat Manga / VIZ Media)
10. Suihelibe! by Naomi Azuma (CMX Manga)

You can check out all the polls, both current and the ones that are coming soon at the new 2008 Manga Readers' Polls roundup page. Voting will be open until Sunday, January 25 at midnight, Pacific Time. I'll be posting the final results by the end of January 2009.

To qualify for this poll, the debut (first) volume of the manga must have an on-sale date between January 1 thru December 31, 2008, and it has to be a title that was released as a graphic novel in English in the U.S.

There's a few manga here that were nominated in other categories, but remember, if a manga that's nominated in two or more polls, only the highest total votes earned in any one category will count toward that title's chances to win the Readers' Choice for the Best New Manga of 2008.

Only a few more polls to go, so stick around for the Best One-Shot Manga, Best Manga Magazine, Best Manga Book and more.

Image credit: © Zelda no Densetsu TM & © 2008 Nintendo. / Shogakukan Inc.