5 Questions with Kazu Kibuishi

(previous interviews in this series can be found here.)

Welcome to another installment of 5 Questions with a 5-Year-Old. Today, Zoey chats with Kazu Kibuishi: artist, author, and creator of the Amulet series of graphic novels.

Not since Bone was Zoey so immediately taken with a book and its world. Almost instantly, she attached to 12-year-old Emily and her adventure. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise. If you’ve read any of the Amulet books, you already know that it’s a gripping story that’s superbly written and breathtakingly illustrated.

It’s not often I hear audible gasps and genuine surprise and concern when reading comics and graphic novels to her. Amulet, however, leaves her breathless. We read through the first book in a single sitting, and there was no looking back.

The Amulet books (published by Grahix/Scholastic) consistently show up on reading lists highlighting the best books for kids. In fact, we just got a similar list from Zoey’s elementary school librarian, and there it was: Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet series.

There are currently six books in the series. There will eventually be nine. And I’m sure we’ll still want more. It’s just that good.

In addition to crafting the world populated by Emily, Navin, Leon, Miskit, Trellis, and all the rest, Kazu Kibuishi thankfully keeps himself quite busy. He’s edited the stunning Flight and Explorer anthologies (the latter published by Amulet books, an imprint of Abrams), he’s created Daisy Kutter, and he recently illustrated all-new covers for the Harry Potter books (which make it painful to wait until Zoey’s a bit older to start reading them to her).

Zoey had an opportunity to sit and chat with Kazu at this year’s New York Comic-Con.

As always, all questions are Zoey’s. I simply prompt her with “clue words” so she can remember. (Make sure you turn on subtitles if you can’t make out Zoey’s questions.)