-A new kids magazine

My Favorite Company, a Los Angeles-based character and property-development firm, has joined forces with Y’e Studios of New York to create an entertainment magazine for kids age six to 12.

Craig Y’e, former art director and vice president/general manager of Jim Henson Productions, will also take on the role of creative director for the publication.

The partners are currently working on a name for the new bimonthly publication, which will offer celebrity interviews, recipes, games, music and movie reviews.

‘It will be like an Entertainment Weekly-style magazine for the younger set,’ says Mark Eisenberg, president of My Favorite Company. ‘We want to offer kids something different to read from the magazines that are out there now.’

Kids will be able to interact with the characters through the magazine’s Web site (www.myfavoriteco.com), as well as offer on-line suggestions of want they would like to see in the publication.

Eisenberg is also hoping the magazine will expand licensing opportunities for the Carlos & Co. characters, which have already sold in excess of US$60 million in anagram balloons and plush toys.

The new magazine will launch this fall and will be distributed throughout North America.

-Magic School Bus tours Canada

Some Canadian kids will be hopping on the school bus a little earlier than usual this year, thanks to a visit from Scholastic’s traveling Magic School Bus. The real-life yellow machine, based on the highly acclaimed book series and children’s science program, is making its first trip to Canada this month.

Kids in Ontario and Quebec will be able to jump aboard Ms. Frizzle’s wacky vehicle, which features a host of interactive displays that include Microsoft CD-ROMs, Sega’s PICO software, Sega Genesis video games and WarnerVision home videos.

In addition to making pitstops at museums, parks and booksellers, The Magic School Bus will visit several Howard Johnson’s locations as part of the chain’s ‘Kids Go HoJo’ promotion in North America. Scholastic has also set up a tour hotline number (212-343-7573) to ensure that kids don’t miss the bus.

The Emmy Award-winning Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus, produced by Scholastic Productions in association with Nelvana, was the first fully animated series to air on PBS in the U.S. In Canada, it is broadcast on TVOntario and Canal Famille, and will appear on Teletoon this fall.

-Nickelodeon g’es back to school in style

Winners of Nickelodeon’s new contest in the U.S. won’t have to worry about missing the bus when they head back to school. Two grand-prize winners of the network’s Cruise Back to School national sweepstakes will be riding stretch limousines to school for a month. They will each also receive US$1,000 scholarships. Runner-up prizes include Nickelodeon in-line skates and accessories, as well as Rugrats products.

The network has also partnered with Sanford and Stuart Hall, two leaders in the school supply category, to develop a playful line of back-to-school items. Parents can outfit their kids with everything from Rugrats lunch boxes to Slimewriter pens and Splat-windowed pencil pouches.