Go behind the scenes of The Five Wolves written by Peter McCarty.
Read on for an interview with Peter, Kirk Benshoff, Creative Director of First Second and 23rd St. Books, and Mark Siegel, VP, Executive Director of Editorial & Creative, to hear how this book was made and preview interior art.
Mark: How do you deal with the emotions of making and releasing a book this big? The ups and downs, the nervousness, and really seeing for the first time after it’s done.
Peter: With a children’s book I could pretty much see it all at once with the 16 drawings laid out in my studio, but with The Five Wolves I couldn’t really see it until now. I am happy with it, but it’s a bit overwhelming for the creator. Kind of the theme of The Five Wolves too.
I remember seeing the movie The Pillow Book in a theater in New York City in the early 1990s. I graduated from The School of Visual Arts and my children’s book career was just starting. During the movie I had a vision that I would someday make a long flowing book with rectangular drawings and blocks of hand lettering. My drawings in art school were pretty strange, sometimes with bizarre creatures, and I wanted to make a book with these kinds of images. That was 30 years ago. I had a lovely run of making nice children’s books, but in 2015 the plot for The Five Wolves came to me, and I decided to go for it.
In my little studio I have a big stack of Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I take out my fancy pen and just start drawing. First I draw the brown drawings to the end of the first sequence of events like I’m shooting a film. Then I draw the blue lettering like I’m adding the soundtrack. The first drawing is space, then the planet all alone, over the landscape, over the big fish swimming in the ocean, to the five wolves on a boat, and then the one wolf starts talking. For the blue lettering I start in the upper left corners and fill in the blocks of numbers, phrases, and tiny drawings until the words of the story emerge. This pattern goes on for years until all the drawings are finished. Black, red, and orange colors are used too. Drawing the book feels like being in a movie and making the movie at the same time. Like a lucid dream. A good place to be. When I’m in the middle of it I don’t think about getting to the end, but the end suddenly comes. Now the book is finally here.
I would love to hear Kirk’s stories about how difficult these drawings were to reproduce in a book capturing each crosshatch clearly.
Kirk: Peter, I remember when we met for the first time back in the fall of 2019. We had just moved into our new office space and you, Holly, and I were in a conference and you were showing me what you finished to date. To say I was blown away is an understatement. I’ve been working with computers my entire career and I know what the limitations are. Looking at the style and execution of your art and knowing the volume of pages that were to be produced, this is a big piece of how special this book is.
The hatchwork is just amazing. The consistency and control is super human. The amount of patience you must have in order to do these is outside my comprehension. And it’s that detail I wanted to preserve as much as possible.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work in comics for a long time and there is a specific printing technique where you can retain tiny details in the inks by scanning the art and setting up the files in a specific way. I knew right away, that’s what I wanted to do. But that was only half the challenge.
The art is in color and we needed to bring in the color too. That’s where the custom inks came in. If we printed in traditional CMYK, we would have to worry about registration lining up with tiny details on press. But if we printed the pages in a single color, we don’t need to worry about that.
These were the final approved custom inks. Due to logistical issues along the way, we had to get really creative in identifying which proof was using the correct colors.
Ultimately, we spent a couple years and front loaded time playing with how we were going to set up files and decide on our custom inks. Once we made those final decisions, a formula for the pages was established and the rest of the book just needed to follow the specification we set up.
In the end, the book just came out stunning! It was well worth the wait!
Mark: It would be hard to characterize editing The Five Wolves. This is just not a book where we could discuss plot structure, character development, or even pacing—not in any conventional way. But at the heart of good editing is asking questions that are good for the project and its creator. Sometimes one question can affect the author’s vision in a meaningful way. I feel like The Five Wolves had an early discussion, when I threw some questions at you, Peter. But then, you were off, following your muse.
I’m curious, Peter, about how your interaction with Kirk and me altered the course of your story, or the realization of it, in any way? Mostly, we were trying to keep up with your unfettered creation. And then figuring out how to publish such a unique creature!
Peter: Mark, I don’t even want to say the year, but I think it was 2017. Holly McGhee and I came to show the idea of The Five Wolves to you at FirstSecond as a three part series, you said right away that it would be one big book, and you signed it up right away! You also told me you were not going to edit me too much, and I was indeed off and running. So much confidence all around! Toward the end I thought I was going to put in an appendix of the words you’re supposed to read. Mark, you came in and said no way, and I thought alright, that’s what I needed to hear!
Kirk has been technically at this for so long. It’s been so nice to work together in person from the beginning. I remember bringing in a batch of artwork at the halfway point during the pandemic. I drove in, found easy parking and met Kirk in the empty 120 Broadway building. So strange. I knew I was so lucky to have this project to work on. Every lunch and meeting has been delightful!
Mark: What strikes me most about this entire journey is how The Five Wolves became something none of us could have fully imagined at the start—even Peter, who carried this vision for three decades. It’s a book that defies easy categorization, that asks readers to surrender to its rhythms and trust in its strange, beautiful logic. In a publishing landscape often driven by familiar formulas, The Five Wolves stands as proof that the most meaningful work emerges when creators are brave enough to follow their deepest creative instincts, and when publishers are willing to take extraordinary leaps of faith. This book doesn’t just tell a story—it creates an entirely new way of experiencing narrative. I can’t wait for readers to lose themselves in Peter’s extraordinary world, to feel that same trance-like wonder that we’ve all experienced working with this remarkable creation.
About The Five Wolves
The Five Wolves
By Peter McCarty
Ages 9-14
On Sale Now!
“Striking and provocative.” —Kirkus, starred review
In The Five Wolves, beloved picture book author and Caldecott Honor recipient Peter McCarty breaks new ground. This monumental graphic poem is perfect for fans of Shaun Tan and Brian Selznick!
Across oceans, through fields, and down tunnels, five daring wolves traverse the planet in search of wonders to draw and paint. All the while, a disembodied narrator spins the tale of their absurdist adventure and asks big questions. What is art? And who does it belong to?
Part epic picture book, part graphic novel, The Five Wolves defies genres. With intricate ink work and meticulous hand-lettering, Peter McCarty has crafted an exquisitely illustrated epic poem. The Five Wolves is an entrancing journey and a testament to the power of art and artists.
Praise for The Five Wolves
★”Striking and provocative… This utterly original book respects its readers, asking them to display patience, have comfort with ambiguity and rereading, and exercise the ability to construct meaning.” —Kirkus, starred review
★”Increasingly dreamlike sequences culminate in a compelling examination of life, art, and the fantastical oddities inherent in both.” —Publisher’s Weekly, starred review
★ “Offering a profound reward to readers willing to lose themselves in its eccentric rhythms, sly humor, and surreal moments, this marvel is a challenging, provocative, and unforgettable meditation on art-making and imagination itself.” —Booklist, starred review
