As mainstream retail chains sing the pecuniary joys of stocking Latin music, at least one company is banking on Hispanic children’s videos being the next category to gain a similar acceptance at retail.

‘There are [currently] 30 million Hispanic consumers in the U.S. Five million of them are of preschool age, which is the largest of any ethnic minority in the U.S.,’ says John Phillips, VP of marketing at New York-based kidvid distribco Sony Wonder.

Starting this month, Sony Wonder will make a major push to target Hispanic parents and kids, with the release of several Spanish-language children’s videos. In all, SW will put out nine titles, including A Dormir and Exitos Musicales, both single-ep titles taken from Plazo Sésamo, the Mexican version of Sesame Street; La Historia De Arca de Noé (The Story of Noah’s Ark) and La Historia Del Nacimeniento (The Story of the Nativity) from SW’s Beginner’s Bible series; Tarzan de los Monos (Tarzan of the Apes) and Anastasia from the Enchanted Tales series; and two titles from Random House’s catalog- Eres Tœ Mi Mam‡ (Are You My Mother?) and Un Pez Dos Peces Pez (One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish). SW will also release the Sesame Street sing-along Fiesta!, which includes songs in both Spanish and English. All of the titles will street on August 24 and will sell for US$9.98 each.

Successive releases will depend largely on how the first wave of videos fare, though Phillips says retailers can expect a steady stream of Plazo Sésamo titles, since the show already enjoys a strong presence in the Hispanic-American community. In support of the titles at retail, beginning this month SW will be running ads for the videos in Spanish-language circulars in key markets, such as New York, L.A. and Miami.