(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 David Petersen, writer and artist of the award-winning Mouse Guard series of graphic novels from Archaia.

Let’s begin by saying that Zoey is a sucker for stories with mice having adventures. And, as it turns out, that’s actually a pretty expansive genre. So it came as no surprise that Mouse Guard was an instant hit with her.

She quickly fell in love with Saxon, Kenzie, Sadie, Lieam, and the rest of the Guardmice who populate this medieval world of intrigue, honor, warfare, and predators.

There are currently three core graphic novels that relate the story of the Guard: Fall 1152, Winter 1152, and The Black Axe (a prequel). Legends of the Guard is a compilation of short stories by other creators. All are fantastic.

But it doesn’t end there. David Petersen is currently working on a second Legends of the Guard volume, Baldwin the Brave and Other Tales (which is a collection of Free Comic Book Day stories), a 2nd edition of the all-ages role-playing game, Swords & Strongholds (a board game set in the world), and a new series of graphic novels that will eventually form the fourth core book in the story.

The Mouse Guard world just keep getting deeper and more immersive, and we’re just happy to be along for the ride.

Heads up: If you’re curious about why the Mouse Guard books are square, then you won’t want to skip this interview. Zoey was also curious, and the answer is a practical argument for paying attention in math class!

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.)

Thanks so much to David Petersen for taking the time to chat with Zoey!