This weekend at the Library’s National Book Festival, fans of Kazu Kibuishi’s epic Amulet series will have a chance to hear him read from his ninth and final book in the series, “Waverider” and talk about how he created the immersive world where his graphic novels are set.
Maya Shibayama, one of my favorite sixth graders, is a huge fan of the Amulet series and is great at explaining how captivating the series can be.
“I was so excited when Book 9 came out,” she said. “My mom wouldn’t give it to me until spring break since she knew I wouldn’t sleep or do homework until I was done reading it.”
Kibuishi will read a selection from “Waverider” and then will join fellow graphic novelist Vera Brosgol to talk about the characters, worlds and moods they create for their books in a panel called “I Built This World, Come Visit!” Afterwards, he will sign copies of his books.
If you miss him on Saturday, look for a recording of his conversation with Vera in the coming days. It will be on the Library’s website and YouTube channel.
Maya and I wrote a few questions for Kazu, and he was nice enough to answer them for us.
Where do you get such cool ideas? How long does it take for you to write a new story?
I feel like most artists have an abundance of cool ideas! The difficult thing is choosing which cool ideas to spend a lot of time working on to turn into a book. Deciding what to work on is often the toughest creative decision I have to face.
Are the characters in Amulet inspired by real people you know?
Very few of the characters are inspired by real people, but there are a handful of side characters that are definitely based on my friends. Some of the characters definitely have my mannerisms, which I suppose can be expected.
Did you always know how you wanted the Amulet series to end? If not, when did you decide what the ending would be?
I had the ending of the series in mind from the start. It’s one of the things that has remained consistent throughout.
When you are creating a new story, what comes first for you – the visual elements or the plot?
Both. I think of images that tell a story, so the images are much like words in my mind.
What advice would you give to kids who wants to write or illustrate books or graphic novels of their own?
Just get started and don’t stop. It takes a long time to get used to making books, and the more you do it, the better you get. If you can become comfortable with the process of improving, there’s no limit to where that approach can take you.
What is your favorite food?
My favorite food is Japanese-style Western food (Yoshoku). This includes stewed hamburger steak, chicken or pork katsu curry. I also love noodles like ramen, udon, soba, or somen.
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