Proving it’s never too late to start a new career, 95-year-old iconic cartoonist Jules Feiffer is launching his first-ever graphic novel for young readers. Titled Amazing Grapes, the book will be released by HarperCollins in September.
“Writing for young readers connects me professionally to a part of myself that I didn’t know how to let out until I was sixty,” said Feiffer via a press release provided to Comic Book Club. “That kid who lived a life of innocence, mixed with confusion and consternation, disappointment and dopey humor. And who drew comic strips and needed friends—and found them—in cartoons and children’s books that told him what the grown-ups in his life had left out. That’s what reading did for me when I was a kid. Now I try to return the favor.”
Amazing Grapes focuses on a “family on a quest to find their mother and save another dimension.” Meanwhile, in June HarperCollins will also publish a 25th anniversary edition of Feiffer’s classic picture book, Bark, George.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been over thirty years (!) since Jules Feiffer and I began working together,” added Michael di Capua, Publisher, Michael di Capua Books. “We started with his first book for kids, The Man in the Ceiling, and then did another every two or three years. It’s common knowledge that Bark, George is one of the best picture books ever, and now Jules is breaking new ground at 95. Amazing Grapes, his first graphic novel for kids, is just as dazzling as you’d expect from this lifelong lover of graphic novels.”
Feiffer was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1986, and is well known for his frequent work in The New Yorker, the late Village Voice, and The New York Times, among others. Feiffer also wrote the screenplays for Popeye, Carnal Knowledge and several other well regarded films.
“For decades, Jules Feiffer’s storytelling has delighted readers and challenged the way they think,” said Andrew Arnold, Editorial Director, HarperAlley. “For HarperCollins to be the publishing home of Amazing Grapes has been a true honor and privilege.”
Amazing Grapes will hit stores on September 24, 2024.
