Sunday, August 9, 2009

Celebrating Melanie Watt

I'm celebrating Melanie Watt's August 20, 1975 birthday for Celebrate the Author this month. That makes this fellow Canadian just a year younger than me. I'm so envious of her... :-)

I saw Watt speak at a conference last year and she's cute as a button, just like her picture book characters!

I put off reading the latest Scaredy Squirrel book so that I could celebrate in August. :)


I love Scaredy - I have a lot of him in me, although not as much as when I was younger. I really6 could've used these books when I was a kid!

In this book, we discover that Scaredy basically never sleeps, since he's afraid of all the things that could
attack him at night. That goes a long way to explaining his nervous disposition! I heart Melanie Watt's cute, cartoony illustrations.As a person who has trouble sleeping, I liked the double-page spread on the side effects of sleeplessness - the "energy loss" Scaredy looks a lot like me, including the barely-open eyes. And she manages to make Scaredy's imagined version of fairies and unicorns look both adorable and malevolent. Watt's Scaredy books as well as her two about Chester the cat are great for little kids, big kids, and adults - enough older humour as well as lots of adorable pictures and zaniness.

So, happy birthday to a lovely Canadian children's book author and I hope she gives us lots more laughs!

2 comments:

Penny said...

I LOVE Scaredy Squirrel! The kids could care less, but I found him great! I didn't know there were more than just the original Scaredy Squirrel out there. It's a whole series!

Melwyk said...

I also love Scaredy Squirrel! It's funny, I think adults are having more fun with this one than some kids. ;) I think Melanie Watt is fantastic, and what a great idea to celebrate her birthday by reading the latest Scaredy book.