The Great Turkey Walk (Hardcover)

The Great Turkey Walk

A classic American story of grit, ingenuity, friendship, and turkeys—reinvented as a sensational graphic novel. Kathleen Karr’s classic, middle-grade novel of a resourceful boy and his herd of a thousand turkeys has been loved by readers since it was first published in 1998. But it never reached a global audience until it was rediscovered by Swiss artist Léonie Bischoff and adapted into an enchanting graphic novel. It has gone on to win not only La Fauve Jeunesse Angoulême, but also the ACBD (French Comic Book Critics Association’s Award) and been lauded as the perfect combination of action-packed western and inspirational story of determination. Simon Green is a poor student. His mother is dead and his father has disappeared. But he’s daring, and so when he hears that turkeys fetch a high price in Denver, he buys a herd of a thousand birds and sets off on the thousand-mile walk with his dog and a pair of mules. To survive the odyssey that follows, Simon will need grit, luck and smarts—and a colorful cast of friends.

About the author 

Kathleen Karr was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and grew up on a chicken farm in Dorothy, New Jersey. After escaping to college, she worked in the film industry, and also taught in high school and college. She seriously began writing fiction on a dare from her husband. After honing her skills in women’s fiction, her children asked her to write a book for them (It Ain’t Always Easy), and she discovered she loved writing for young readers. She is the author of more than twenty novels for young readers. Her book The Boxer won the Golden Kite award. She died in 2017.  

About the illustrator 

After graduating in comics from the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, Léonie Bischoff became a bookseller and then an editor. She is the author of a graphic novel about the diarist Anaïs Nin. Her adaptation of Kathleen Karr's The Great Turkey Walk is her first book for children. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Léonie currently lives in Belgium. 

About the translator 

Michelle Bailat-Jones is a translator and novelist living in Switzerland. She has translated several short stories as well as two novels by C. F. Ramuz, Beauty on Earth and What if the Sun...? Her other translations include work by Clarisse Francillon, Claude Cahun, Julia Allard Daudet, Laure Mi-Hyun Croset, and Céline Cerny.

Winner of La Fauve Jeunesse Angoulême, the world’s most prestigious graphic novel prize. 

With thanks to Pro Helvetia for their generous support