W hat special research did you carry out to be able to recreate Akissi’s world? Marguerite make few comments or modifications as well, which I integrate into the final artwork.” -Mathieu Sapinģ. When we’ve agreed on the story, I get straight to drawing. Sometimes, she imitates some of the characters! It’s very funny. She gives me details on the story, the characters, the setting, etc. “At first, Marguerite makes a storyboard and when we meet we cut it up and talk about it. Sometimes our characters don’t need to talk, as the illustration conveys emotion by itself.” -Marguerite Abouet

Mathieu Sapin and I read through it together and we consult each other a lot to find the right chemistry between the text and the illustrations.

“I’m used to storyboarding, so I can easily put myself in children’s shoes. How did you work together to find the right chemistry between text and image? By publishing the story, I can share my childhood and memories with others.” -Marguerite AbouetĢ. The story is about a happy childhood, the good memories of a young Ivorian girl before she leaves her country for France at a young age without her parents. You were born in Abidjan and you grew up there until you were 12 years old, does Akissi represent a younger version of you? An expanded paperback edition with new, hilarious stories that Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin, the illustrator, took time to tell us a bit more about – giving us an insight into their work and this cheeky little girl.ġ. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.After the success of Aya of Yop City comics, published by Gallimard BD, the Ivorian author Marguerite Abouet brings back her best childhood memories with Akissi : Tales of Mischief. With the first volume selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018, Akissi is back for round three with more stories of silliness and chaos with her plucky crew of neighborhood kids-there's never a dull moment when she's around! Our plucky young troublemaker Akissi is back with even more tales of mischief on The Ivory Coast! This time, she plays matchmaker with mixed results, tries to avoid moving to the snowy, wolf-infested wilds of Paris, and turns her hand to poetry - which stinks. Our favorite troublemaker is back in this graphic novel collection of wild childhood adventures set on the Ivory Coast by award-winning author Marguerite Abouet ( Aya of Yop City ) and artist Mathieu Sapin.

Akissi by Marguerite Abouet