Mônica’s publications are written and drawn by the brazilian cartoonist Maurício de Souza.

7 year old Mônica was nominated as the youngest UNICEF National Ambassador in Brazil at a ceremony in São Paulo, Brazil. Mônica is a beloved cartoon character who has been capturing the hearts and imagination of children in Brazil and over 50 countries with her friends, known as Mônica’s Gang. Created in March 1963, two generations of Brazilians have grown up reading about Mônica’s adventures as a 7 year old girl, and they now share her stories with their own children. (...)

How popular is Mônica and her gang? So far, their comics have sold over 1 billion copies, have been translated into more than a dozen languages and are read in over 50 countries as diverse as Japan, Spain, Korea and Indonesia. In Brazil, Monica’s Gang publications represent 70% of the children’s market and her website gets over 30 million page-views per month.

Kent Page, UNICEF Brazil

Furthermore Mônica proudly represents our country. The Embassy of Brazil in London recommends a journey through the regions of Brazil - an interactive journey through the regions of Brazil with Monica's gang, by Mauricio de Sousa.

Finally, Maurício de Souza gave an interview to Portal MultiRio in which, among other things, he comments the international success of Monica’s Gang:

Portal MultiRio:

One of the big themes covered at the 4th World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents last year in Rio de Janeiro was how media products are distributed and circulated. In terms of quality media for children and teenagers, Latin America is not just a major consumer market, but also a leading producer. Attaining the national and international market is one of the great obstacles facing independent producers. Monica’s Gang is a success story at home and abroad. How have you opened up the avenues? Is there any formula for success?

Mauricio de Souza:

There aren’t exactly formulas for success. If there were, they’d be on sale at a fine price all over the place. What there are is plans, work, ideals that can be made realities. The work we have been doing for more than 40 years has sown the seeds. It’s an architecture that we have built up piece by piece, sometimes with great difficulty. None of it is easy – never has been and never will be. But we have the strength of faith, self-confidence and the certainty that the principles that govern our work are sound. That way we can move ahead, sometimes more slowly that we would like, with our plans to reach other countries, other peoples.

Portal MultiRio

Watch the video below to find out more: