Okay, isn't Augustine just the cutest little thing ever!?!?!? -> All in all, this is a solid picture-book, which can be appreciated either as a reassurance tale or an 'identify that painting!' type art book. The conceit of having penguins at the North Pole works well here, emphasizing the way in which a recently transplanted child feels like a foreigner, and the colorful illustrations will keep young readers involved. Attribution of these is given in a brief afterword, in case more motivated readers are interested in pursuing the subject. Will she and her parents be the only penguins in the Arctic? Will she make friends at her new school, despite her strange accent? Luckily, Augustine has her artistic talent to fall back on.Īn engaging and reassuring tale about moving, from the author of the Scaredy Squirrel and Chester books, Augustine also introduces young readers to the joy of art, through its heroine's paintings, which imitate real masterpieces. When Augustine's family must move from the South Pole to the North, the young penguin is dismayed to leave behind her extended family, and her friends at school. Mélanie currently resides near Montreal, Quebec. Mélanie has often noted how the Scaredy Squirrel books helped her work out her own insecurities and fears, as the success of these titles has required her to venture out into the unknown, and like Scaredy she has found the experience truly uplifting. Scaredy returns to take a few more tentative steps out of his comfort zone in Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach and Scaredy Squirrel at Night. Chester has already become a bestseller and shows the breadth and creativity of Mélanie Watt. The release of Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend, was met with enthusiastic reviews and incredible sales, confirming the arrival of kid lit's newest superstar.Ĭhester,Chester's Back! and Chester's Masterpiece are about a megalomaniac cat who is every bit the antithesis to Scaredy. Mélanie's best known book Scaredy Squirrel, has won many awards including the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award for Children's Picture Book and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award.

Watt has also illustrated Where Does a Tiger-Heron Spend the Night? and Bearcub and Mama, which won the 2006 IRA Teachers' Choices Project.

Watt went on to create several more books, including the Learning with Animals collection and Augustine, which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book. It was in a design class taught by Michèle Lemieux at the University of Quebec in Montreal that author and illustrator Mélanie Watt created her first picture book, Leon the Chameleon, which was later published by Kids Can Press.

Books by melanie watt