Graphic Novelist Interview: Katharine Woodman-Maynard
It’s such a pleasure to spotlight the immensely talented Katharine Woodman-Maynard today on the Mixed-Up Files blog. She’s a graphic novelist whose gorgeous and faithful adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting is getting all kinds of well-deserved attention. Kirkus says it’s “as wise and wonderful as the original” in its starred review, and School Library Journal says Katharine “achieves the seemingly impossible task of enhancing a much beloved classic” in its starred review. It also made a few best-of-2025 lists—Kirkus and SLJ! Congratulations Katharine and welcome to the blog!
Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel, by Natalie Babbitt; adapted and illustrated by K. Woodman Maynard
In this timeless story about immortality, friendship, and growing up, young Winnie Foster learns of a hidden spring in a nearby wood and meets the Tuck family, whose members reveal their astonishing discovery of the spring’s life-changing power. Now Winnie must decide what to do with her newfound knowledge—and the Tucks must decide what to do with her. But it’s not just the curious girl who is interested in their remarkable tale. A suspicious stranger is also searching for the Tucks, and he will stop at nothing until he finds them and uncovers their secret.
From Newbery Honoree and E. B. White Award winner Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is a modern-day masterpiece that has been a staple on home bookshelves and in classrooms and libraries for half a century. Drawing closely from the original text, it is now brought to visual life in K. Woodman-Maynard’s gorgeous watercolor artwork. The perfect book for new readers and long-devoted fans alike, Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel is sure to be an all-time favorite for every generation.
Interview with Katharine
What drew you to adapting this story into a graphic novel?
Tuck Everlasting speaks to my soul in a way that few books do. I’m also only interested in adapting books where I feel that the graphic novel medium can add something to the story. And what so draws me to it—the wonderful descriptions of the magic of nature, the symbolism, the vibrant characters, and the profound and deceptively simple message—are also what would make this book ideally suited to the graphic novel medium.
How did you figure out what to include from the original version and what to leave out?
I take adaptations very seriously. I only work with source material that I love and I try to be as truthful to it as possible. This doesn’t always mean a literal interpretation—sometimes I have to make minor changes or tweaks to the pacing or content to better suit the graphic novel medium, but I believe the most important thing is to keep the essence and the emotions of the book intact because that is one of the things that made a book so beloved in the first place. Of course, I have to cut down quite a bit on the amount of text that I include compared to the original book. And I try to show as much as I can with the art even when there isn’t room for all of the text.
What was one of the most challenging aspects during the creation of this book?
I struggled with how to condense the start of the book. In the original, which I love, there’s quite a bit of narration before you get to the plot. In interviews, Natalie Babbitt talked about how kids complained of how slow the start of the book was, so I knew I wanted to get to the action faster. I ended up moving some of the narration to later in the chapter, once the reader was hooked to the story. And I added in a map of Treegap, where much of the story takes place, and included narration with it in order to make it more visually interesting while still conveying information to the reader.
Can you describe your artistic process for creating the spreads of this book? And do you have a favorite spread? If so, why?
I work in a lot of iterations and start out working very sketchily and bit by bit the work becomes more and more refined. I switch between digital and traditional mediums depending on where I am in the graphic novel process. I digitally create the line art using the app Clip Studio Paint and then print it out on watercolor paper and watercolor it by hand. Then I scan the art back in and add in the text, speech bubbles, and panel borders digitally. It’s a ton of work, but I love it.
My favorite page spread is when Winnie enters the Wood for the first time. I love the tree branches used as panel borders and the idea came out of a diary comic I made about how much I love being in the woods and the wonder and beauty I feel there.
How did you come up with the gorgeous color palette and what do some of your color choices mean?
I collected various art for inspiration but really it was a lot of trial and error based on the mood I’m trying to evoke in the book, and how the watercolors work together when mixed or layered, and side by side on the page. I try to limit the color palette for each scene and it’s not necessarily realistic to the real world, but the emphasis is more on the emotion of the scene. I also had to consider if a specific color is necessary to include in the scene, like whenever The Man in the Yellow Suit appeared, I needed to use yellow in that scene.
I love the intricate details in your book, like the meaningful chapter title pages and the swirling, twisting dialogue of The Man in the Yellow Suit. Can you describe why you made some of these artistic choices?
I’m always interested in ways I can use the graphic novel in interesting ways and speech bubbles and panel borders are unique to the medium. As with most of my choices, it’s about enhancing the mood of the scene. So, for The Man and the Yellow Suit, his speech bubble tails are more snake-like, to match his character. And they wrap around Winnie’s parents when he tries to blackmail them which I find really creepy.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on an original middle grade graphic novel. It’s a little early to talk about it, but I’m excited to work on my own story although I love classics. I also work as a writing and art coach for graphic novel creators looking to level up their stories with an eye towards publication.
Thank you so much for joining us on the blog today, Katharine, and for sharing about your creative process!
All About Katharine
As a child, cartoonist K. Woodman-Maynard grew up with undiagnosed learning disabilities and struggled to learn how to read and write. Instead, she dove into the world of storytelling through her art, which is what she continues to do to this day. K.’s debut, The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, was called “hugely rewarding” by The Wall Street Journal. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, where she studied animation, and has worked as an animator, designer, and illustrator for companies such as Capital One, TOMS, and Nickelodeon. In addition to making graphic novels, K. leads workshops; works as a comics coach; and has a weekly Substack newsletter, Creating Comics, where she encourages artists to create more and feel less bad about themselves in the process. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her spouse and an enthusiastic dog.
Find Katharine here: Creating Comics Substack Newsletter, Instagram, TikTok, Website, Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel
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