Mélanie Watt/Penguin Random House Canada
Born 20 August 1974 in Montréal, where she still lives.
An author and illustrator of children’s books, she studied graphic design at the Université du Québec à Montréal where she received a Bachelor of Arts. In 1999 she studied illustration under Meichele Lemieux.
Her first story was Leon the Chameleon authored in 2001. Her most famous creation is “Scaredy Squirrel” appearing from 2006 to 2022 in a series of eight books which also appeared in French as “Frisson l’écureuil”. The character was used by Nelvana Studios for an animated television series of the same name which ran three seasons 2011 to 2013. Mélanie has authored a second series of three books from 2009 to 2010. These are based on a writer/illustrator duel between Mélanie and her cat character “Chester” over who will author the stories.
She has authored five other titles spaced among these two series.
The first Scaredy Squirrel book won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and five of her books have been Junior Guide Library selections. They have been translated into 23 languages
WORK:
WRITER & ILLUSTRATOR:
BOOK TEXT & GRAPHIC:
Content instruction & Cover book & dust jacket front:
Scaredy Squirrel prepares for Christmas. Kids Can Press, 2012.
Content instruction & Cover book front:
Scaredy Squirrel Scared Silly. Kids Can Press, 2024.
GALLERY:
Scaredy Squirrel prepares for Christmas, 2012: Front cover.
Scaredy Squirrel Scared Silly. 2024: Front cover.