Kazu Kibuishi and Amulet

Our grades 4 and 5 students are suffering (in a good way!) with a serious case of Amulet fever! The books are always on hold, and personal copies are being loaned as well. Personally, this series was the turning point for me with graphic novels. I now get the beauty, the engagement and the near-obsession that some readers have with this genre. Reading Amulet is like watching a stunning movie unfold in front of your eyes.

After some months of trying to put it all together, we had our final skype chat of the year with Kazu Kibuishi and Jason Caffoe. These guys were so cool, so accessible and so down-to-earth that our 30 minutes flew by, and we could have talked for hours. The kids were talking about it all day long, and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of #5 in the series to come out.

This was the year I was not only sold on graphic novels, but my love of skyping with authors was solidified. More and more authors are willing to do it (this was Kazu's first skype call), and it's such a great way for students to feel enpowered. Twice now, they have written a persuasive letter to an author that resulted in a skype call. Love that!

Here's the trailer to Amulet--an awesome addition to any library.