Kazu Kibuishi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids カズ・キブイシ |
|
|---|---|
Kibuishi at the 2018 Texas Book Festival
|
|
| Born | Kazuhiro Kibuishi April 8, 1978 Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | American |
|
Notable works
|
Flight, Amulet |
Kazuhiro "Kazu" Kibuishi (born April 8, 1978) is a Japanese-American author and illustrator. He is famous for creating and editing the comic book collection Flight. Kazu also made the online comic Copper. He is also the writer and artist behind the popular Amulet graphic novel series.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kazu Kibuishi was born in Tokyo, Japan, on April 8, 1978. When he was four years old, in 1982, he moved to the United States with his mom and brother.
In 1996, Kazu started college at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He wanted to study film there. While in college, he began drawing for the school newspaper, the Daily Nexus. He said this is where his career in illustration really began. Kazu even worked as the Art Director for the Daily Nexus for over three years. He created his comic Clive and Cabbage during this time. He finished college in 2000 with a degree in film studies.
Kazu's Creative Career
Kazu Kibuishi started drawing when he was just five years old. He shared that he missed cool robot TV shows like Ultraman after moving to the U.S. This sadness made him start drawing a lot. He also loved comics like Garfield and magazines such as Mad and CARtoons. These helped him fall in love with comic books.
After college, Kazu worked as an animator for two years. An animator creates moving images for cartoons or movies. He then decided to focus on comics instead. This allowed him to spend more time writing his stories. He began creating a monthly online comic called Copper. This comic ran on his website for seven years, ending in 2009.
The Flight Comic Series
Kazu Kibuishi came up with the idea for Flight as a collection of comics. He invited his friends to contribute their stories and artwork. He promoted this project at a special event called the Alternative Press Expo. There, it caught the eye of Erik Larsen, a publisher at Image Comics. This made the project really popular and brought in many talented artists. Image Comics published the first Flight book in 2004. The series finished with its eighth book in 2011.
The Explorer Collection
After Flight ended, Kazu created the Explorer series. This was another collection of comics, but this time it was made especially for kids. Many of the same artists from Flight also worked on Explorer. This series is seen as a follow-up to Flight. The Explorer series has three books. It ended with the book called Explorer: The Hidden Doors.
The Amulet Graphic Novels
Kazu Kibuishi is the creator of Amulet. This is a very popular series of graphic novels. The first book, The Stonekeeper, came out in 2008. A big publisher called Scholastic won the rights to publish the series. This happened after a lot of competition.
Other books in the Amulet series include:
- The Stonekeeper's Curse
- The Cloud Searchers
- The Last Council
- Prince of the Elves
- Escape From Lucien
- Firelight
- Supernova
- Waverider
The ninth and final book in the series, Waverider, was released on February 6, 2024.
Other Cool Projects
While working on Flight Volume 1, Kazu also created a four-book graphic novel. It was called Daisy Kutter: The Last Train. This story is set in a steampunk world. Steampunk is a style that mixes old-fashioned machines with futuristic ideas. Viper Comics published this series.
Because of his work with Scholastic, Kazu was asked to draw new covers for the Harry Potter novels. These special covers were for the 15th anniversary box set. He also drew a story called "?" for a short story collection. This collection was titled Machine of Death. Kazu also illustrated a children's book by Brandon Sanderson. It was called The Most Boring Book Ever.
Awards and Recognitions
Kazu Kibuishi's Flight Volume 2 was nominated for a special award in 2006. This award was the Eisner Award for Best Anthology. His graphic novel Daisy Kutter: The Last Train was also recognized. It was named one of the Best Books for Young Adults in 2006. This honor came from the Young Adult Library Services Association.
His Amulet series has been very successful. It has spent many weeks on The New York Times' Best Seller list. This means lots of people are buying and reading his books!
About Kazu's Life
Kazu Kibuishi is married to another illustrator, Amy Kim Ganter. They often work together. They have two children named Juni and Sophie. The family lives in Bellevue, Washington. In 2012, Kazu faced a serious health challenge. He became very ill and needed to stay in the hospital for several weeks. He has since recovered.
