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Penguin has signed a deal with children's game developer Mind Candy to publish a series of books based on the online game Moshi Monsters.
The game, which has more than 20m registered users, allows children around the world to adopt their own free pet monster, play games, customise their homes, explore the virtual world and solve educational puzzles.
The first book will explore one of the most popular elements of the game - Moshlings - pets of the Moshi Monsters. It will delve into their back-story, habitats, quirks and provide other valuable information for dedicated Moshling hunters.
The book will also contain a unique code to unlock a secret Moshling at the Moshi Monsters website. Two books are planned for release in 2010 globally and a further five to follow in 2011.
"Moshi Monsters grew ten-fold in 2009 and we feel now is the right time to begin expanding the property offline," said Michael Acton Smith, chief executive of Mind Candy.
"Books will be one of the key categories for the brand and we felt Penguin would be the perfect partner to help us expand the property."
Eric Huang, category publisher, brands and licensing at the Penguin Group, added: "The licensing landscape has changed in the last year or so with some of the most compelling story content for kids coming from virtual worlds, and the Penguin Group is honoured to add Moshi Monsters to its programme of successful virtual world tie-ins. "
All the books will contain links to exclusive content and act in tandem with the site.