In 2019, British author and artist Luke Pearson told a German newspaper that he would be stepping away from the world of Hilda, star of his popular series of children’s graphic novels featuring a curious, kindhearted young girl and her pet “deerfox,” Twig. Pearson had just published Hilda and the Mountain King; the book, he said, would be the last in the series for a long while.

Fans of the series were not totally bereft, though—the previous year, Netflix had started streaming an animated show based on the character. The series, which Pearson created, wrote for, and co-executive produced, was a hit with critics and viewers alike and spawned several tie-in storybooks. But after the last episode aired in 2023, Pearson noticed that something was missing in his life.

“It was the end of various journeys,” Pearson says of the show wrapping up. “I seem to remember there was a day when I watched [the last episode], and then a couple of pieces of fan mail came in from little kids asking if there were going to be more books. I just had this strong feeling of I don’t actually want to be done with this.”

That was the origin for Hilda and Twig: Hide From the Rain, the latest installment in the series. Just like the first books featuring Hilda, this one takes place in the wilderness and not the city of Trolberg, where Hilda, her mother (Johanna), and Twig later move. This book puts the spotlight on Twig, who must protect his friend from a giant snake after the girl and the deerfox become separated on an adventure. It’s slated for publication by Flying Eye Books on Nov. 5.

Pearson discussed Hilda and his latest book via Zoom from his home in Nottingham, England. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Hilda’s become an iconic character in children’s literature. What was the initial inspiration behind her?

She didn’t emerge fully formed. The initial inspiration was Scandinavian folklore and reading tales about trolls and elves. I got into that, and I felt like I was interested in doing some children’s work, and there was a vibe to some of those stories that I wanted to try and capture in comic form. Hilda was a character I’d been doodling, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with her, so I paired her with this world. The first story was very simple; not a lot happens. It was just her and a troll and Twig.

Was Hilda based on your own experiences growing up at all?

Initially, no. The setup of the cabin in the wilderness couldn’t really be further from my personal childhood. And the idea of this carefree kid who isn’t afraid of anything and explores independently—that was not me. But then she moves to Trolberg, and [part of that move was so] I could bring in more of my own childhood experiences that I felt would be relevant and recognizable to kids.

After the first couple of books, I could foresee that if the character was going to grow and I was going to build this world out, there was only so far [I] could really go with [the wilderness setting]. I was also keen to flex, from an artistic point of view. I wanted to draw some buildings. I wanted to draw more characters. Ultimately, I was just following my interests at the time.

Having said that “there’s only so much you can do with the wilderness,” I have to walk back that statement, since that’s exactly why I’m now returning to the wilderness—to get away from the city and the expanse that Trolberg has become over the years. [Laughs.]

Twig’s name is finally in the title of this one. Did you want to explore him more as a character?

At some point, I thought about and discussed doing some kind of spinoff that would focus on Twig. In the later comics, I realized, I wouldn’t really give him a lot to do. That kind of happened in the Netflix series as well, where people would be writing scripts, I would be writing scripts, and Twig just wouldn’t get mentioned. That was partly the original impetus for writing the episode of the series where Twig runs away. He runs away because he’s not getting involved in the adventures, which was a reflection of how it felt to me in the writing process. He was always getting left out, and it felt natural that he would feel that in the world as well.

At that point, I didn’t want to take the series forward. Partly I wanted to let the series end and see where everything would sit. I felt like it would be really fun to have Hilda behaving like Hilda and then see Twig’s internal monologue and see that maybe sometimes he’s pulling the strings. He’s the one leading the adventure, and Hilda doesn’t quite realize that, and that felt like a really fun dynamic to explore.

Have your own kids read the books or watched the series?

Yeah, they’ve watched the series. My oldest is 7. It wasn’t really until the last season that she took a real interest. We watched season 2 with her, and it was a bit old for her; she was kind of spacing out. But she got really into season 3, which was nice to experience. She’d be watching [the episodes] on repeat and asking me stuff about them and properly engaging with them, and that was really fun.

She also had the books, and she’d flick through them, but she was never super interested. That’s connected to this new book, because I wanted to do something that would be more easily digested by a younger reader. I specifically wanted this book to be one that you could sit down and read akin to a picture book, [something] that would have about the length and the kind of page-turning speed of a bedtime story. So you could read it to a kid, it wouldn’t go on forever, and you could have a pace and some satisfying page turns.

Are Hilda and Twig coming back for any new books?

That’s the plan.

That must be exciting, but also maybe intimidating, since you’ve created this world and you’re maybe thinking, Where do I go next?

This one is essentially a prequel. It’s set before the original Hilda and the Troll. The vibe’s a little different. I’m hoping people like it. I did a reading of it to an audience of kids, and they seemed to react really well to it. It’s not lore-heavy, it’s not extremely [deep in the] established Hilda universe, it’s not a sequel to the show or to the last book—although I’m hoping to look forward at some point in the future. This is a slightly more self-contained thing that I’m hoping will be really satisfying to people.

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.