Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird becoming a graphic novel

A graphic novel of Harper Lee's beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird will be published in Canada in November 15, 2018 by HarperCollins.

The book will be drawn and adapted by British author-illustrator Fred Fordham, who worked on Philip Pullman's graphic novel The Adventures of John Blake. Fordham's literary agency, Andrew Nurnberg Associates, also works with Lee's estate.

Lee, who died in 2016, had resisted alternate editions of her book until late in life. Only in 2014 did she permit an e-book of To Kill a Mockingbird. The following year, she authorized the release of a second novel, Go Set a Watchman, which was based on early draft of To Kill a Mockingbird.

"Adapting a story that means so much to so many, and finding the appropriate art style to give it life in a long-form visual medium, is a great honour and responsibility, and, mercifully, also a great pleasure," said Fordham to Entertainment Weekly.

Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered an American classic. The book is estimated to have sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

The estate of Harper Lee has endorsed Fordham's graphic novel adaptation.

"Fred's work has a quality that surpasses time, just like the novel he will bring to life in a new way. We can't wait to hear the reaction from old and new fans," said the estate to Entertainment Weekly.

— with files from the Canadian Press