This new line of Edu-Manga* features Astro Boy, one of Japan's most popular icons among children who journeys alongside the reader. He provides for kids not only a history lesson but also a richer understanding of the life lessons these historical figures share with us.

With two trips into space, Chiaki Mukai is Japan's most traveled astronaut. Her last mission was on the space shuttle Discovery, researching weightlessness with veteran U.S. astronaut and Senator John Glenn. In the tests, she found it easy to do somersaults, but had trouble touching the cabin floor. ''Some things that can easily be done on Earth cannot be easily done in space,'' she says.

*Note: Edu-Manga is a term coined in Japan which means Educational Manga.