{"id":2173,"date":"2011-07-19T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2011-07-19T06:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2173"},"modified":"2011-07-19T07:24:19","modified_gmt":"2011-07-19T13:24:19","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-melanie-watt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2173","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with M\u00e9lanie Watt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Here’s author\/illustrator M\u00e9lanie Watt<\/a><\/strong>, who has brought us one of contemporary children’s literature’s most memorable characters, being stalked by said character in Florence, Italy. Okay, so perhaps he’s just hanging out with her. He is<\/em> a bit neurotic after all and probably just wants some company. <\/p>\n

Scaredy Orville Squirrel. My favorite defeatist. Children’s lit’s dearest doomsayer. A wunderkind of a worrywart. What I love about this guy is that I relate to him just a little bit. (What? Name me someone who doesn’t have a little bit of that neurosis and then a little bit of another.) And yet as a parent, who tires of the overly-sanitized, fear-of-letting-your-kids-play-in-the-dirt Age of the Antibacterial Soap we currently live in, I laugh to myself and nod my head over Scaredy Squirrel’s little epiphanies at the close of each book, his realization that leaping into the unknown at least makes life a wee bit interesting, his reminders to us all to chill out a bit when it comes to the hyper-protective parenting. Power to Scaredy Squirrel for knocking us upside the head and reminding us to take risks, ditch the fear a bit, and calm down a lot.<\/p>\n

And if M\u00e9lanie didn’t wrap all that up with great humor, it would be a bit too heavy-handed, huh? But, nope, our petrified, panic-stricken hero with his set schedules and predetermined activities for every day of the week and map legends and ennumerated instructions to himself and Action Plans and huge<\/em> host of fears (whew — no wonder he doesn’t get out of the tree very often), in a story told with a skeleton of a traditional narrative, manages to make us laugh — and nod in recognition. Just look at that cover for the second title (pictured below), Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. THAT NAME TAG (\u201dHello. My name is Scaredy\u201c) . . . I mean, that\u2019s just funny<\/em>. As I’ve said before at the blog, have you ever watched a child hold a Scaredy Squirrel<\/em> book in his or her hands and just pore over all the images and icons and lists and flow charts and other delightfully left-brained stuff? Sure, it’s probably not for everyone, as no one children’s book is, but I say hurrah for the tongue-in-cheek cartoon illustrations and all the humor and Scaredy\u2019s continued quest to leap into the unknown — even if Godzilla, mobs of lobsters, falling coconuts, vampire bats, poison ivy, piranhas, polka-dot monsters, flocks of seagulls, birthday party ponies, herds of sea monsters, or Bigfoot is involved. <\/p>\n

But there’s more to M\u00e9lanie’s body of work than just our beloved Scaredy. Sure, he’s once again the star of his own new nail-biting saga—Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, released by Kids Can Press in February—but she’s got another new title from Hyperion, released in March (You’re Finally Here!<\/a><\/strong><\/em>), which I actually haven’t read yet. And she’s also here this morning to discuss her other characters and titles, not to mention the most rewarding thing anyone could possibly say about her books. <\/p>\n

Her breakfast-of-choice is “oatmeal with Quebec maple syrup on top.”<\/font> Mmm. Sounds good, and I’ll brew the coffee. I thank M\u00e9lanie for stopping by. <\/p>\n

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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

M\u00e9lanie<\/font><\/strong>: Author\/Illustrator. <\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

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M\u00e9lanie<\/font><\/strong>: Picture books: <\/p>\n