In-depth Written Interview

Insights Beyond the Movie

Mélanie Watt, interviewed from her studio in Laval, Québec on September 27, 2010.

TEACHINGBOOKS: You are perhaps best known for your Scaredy Squirrel books. How did you get started as an author/illustrator of children's books?

MÉLANIE WATT: I drew a lot as a young kid; it was my favorite thing to do. Even in kindergarten, my teachers really encouraged me and talked about my art. As I got older, I started drawing portraits of famous people like the Beatles; I was totally obsessed with portraits.

But I was not going to study the arts in college because I thought it was not possible to make a living that way. I didn't know anyone who studied art in college, so it was never an option to me. I went into business administration instead, and after a while, I figured out that that wasn't for me. I couldn't see myself working in an office with numbers and accounting. Then I found out about this course called graphic design, and I started taking that.

I really loved graphic design because it was creative, but at the same time, there was the ability to work for agencies. Even at university, the thought of being an artist wasn't a reality for me. Even after studying design for six years, I was going to go work in an advertising agency. Eventually, I took an illustration class where one of the projects was to create a book about color.

Most of the students in my class were making abstract, color-inspired art. But I decided to create a character called Leon the Chameleon who was always the opposite color of his surroundings. My teacher, Michele Lemieux (author of Stormy Night), was able to guide me through the creation of what ended up being my first children's book.

At the end of the school year, Michele recommended I send my mockup to a publisher. She sent it to Kids Can Press, and that's how my career in children's books began.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What was your childhood like? Were you encouraged to be an artist?

MÉLANIE WATT: We moved a lot because my dad was transferred frequently for his job with Petro Canada. I was born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, but we moved near Montréal and afterwards to Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, and back to Québec. I did not speak English until I was eight years old.

I have a younger sister, and when we were moving, we always had the two of us, so we would always play together. We were really close, and we still are.

I was a really shy person, but I loved to draw. For some reason, I got other kids' attention with my drawing, and that's how I often made friends. I would draw little Garfields on their hand, and they would talk about it to other kids. Then the other kids would come and ask me to draw one for them.

Often, I would get picked in class to do the decorations for Halloween or something. I felt like I had some sort of privilege because I could get out of class for a little while and work on art.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What age were you when you started getting interested in portraits and fine art?

MÉLANIE WATT: I was drawing portraits in my teens, and my art teachers in school were always pointing out that I should do something with this. I had never painted anything before university. I had learned the technical aspects of graphic design: how to work on the computer with all the programs and everything early on. At university, the classes taught a different approach: classes were more about the concepts and the ideas. I really started appreciating that creative aspect of design rather than the execution of it.

And, it's the classes and the assignments that helped me discover what I could do. My classes would get me to sit down and explore art, because on my own, I was just working with pencil drawings.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Do you do any non-book design work?

MÉLANIE WATT: I started working on Leon the Chameleon when I still had a year of university left, and I've done picture books ever since. I've never had any other work. But when I work on a picture book, I am a graphic designer. I design my books. I assemble everything. I have like a clear idea of what fonts I want to use, what type of paper, how I see the cover, etc.

Usually, when I present something to the publisher, it is really close to looking like what the final book is going to be. I have a really clear vision, and I want every one of my books to be different. At first, this was an issue for the publisher because they were concerned about how people were going to know that the next book is from me, because it doesn't look like the previous book I worked on.

But for me, variety is important. What makes me want to work on a book is the ability to create something original; something I haven't done yet. I think it's the graphic design background that does that. Before I even start writing a story, I want to know what this world looks like, what type of typography I'm going to use, etc.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Please share some examples of how you conceive of your books before you write them.

MÉLANIE WATT: Well, I knew that in Scaredy Squirrel, every color would be really flat, and there would be just a graphic outline on everything. The style reminds me of warning signs or a billboard.

For Have I Got a Book for You, I wanted to have a 1970s look, so I knew my color palette would have to be orange and olive green. And I knew I wanted a font that reminded me of the 1970s. I knew there would be texture because of the plaid outfit. So that's what inspires me. Before I start writing what's in the pages, I have to figure out what this thing is.

For Chester, I knew that I wanted a character that was going to cross out my name. That's the one thing I knew about it. I wrote a story in order to do that on the cover. I didn't know what kind of character I was going to create. Chester is a cat that I actually drew when I was at university, but he evolved. I always knew I was going to use this cat, but I didn't know when.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What were you trying to accomplish with your book Augustine?

MÉLANIE WATT: Augustine is about art, but I wanted a glimpse of how a young child/penguin would see the art. What you see on the left side of the book is what Augustine sees. What's on the right side of the book is what's happening.

When I was a kid, I focused on detail—little things that maybe someone else wouldn't notice, but a young, artistic child might. And that was the idea behind Augustine, where you get a glimpse of what matters to Augustine and her inspiration to express herself through the art that she knows.

It became a question of finding paintings and famous artists that have something that would relate to Augustine's childish point of view, like the idea of the first day of school, when you don't know anyone, and everyone is going to stare at you.

I kind of knew what that was like. Augustine breaks the ice with new friends by drawing at recess. I think a lot of kids can relate to being alone and having no one to play with when they don't know anyone. It's kind of traumatic for a child. Augustine copes in her own way.

TEACHINGBOOKS: How did you come to create your concept books?

MÉLANIE WATT: The concept books were part of a project at university, where we had to come up with a series of books. I didn't know that much about children's books yet, and I started researching and reading what's out there. I noticed that a lot of the concept books that I came across had images that were kind of cut and paste numerous times in different books.

For example, you could see an animal in a book, and that same image appears multiple times. For me, that was kind of frustrating. If I were a kid reading those books, I would have wanted every illustration to be unique and to have a lot of variety. So I put upon myself a challenge: I made five concepts books using animals, where I never repeated the animal, and I grouped them in different categories.

It was a huge challenge because I was making the books in French and in English, so whatever animals I was choosing to put in the books, I had to be careful, and I had to plan it out properly. It was kind of tricky. I think there are 75 different animals in those five concept books.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What books did you create right after university?

MÉLANIE WATT: I illustrated Margaret Carney's Where Does a Tiger-Heron Spend the Night. I learned a lot about my technique and about using visual references in order to illustrate her poem about birds from different areas.

Through my work on Bear Cub and Mama by Sharon Jennings, I developed my technique on canvas. After working on canvas with a subject that's kind of furry and colorful, I wanted to explore that more. I did so with my own story, Augustine.

I believe every book brings you to the next place you're supposed to go. I don't always know where I'm going, and it's always a challenge, but I always get through it, and I get inspired to go to the next step.

TEACHINGBOOKS: It sounds like that's part of the real fun for you: dreaming up your next challenge.

MÉLANIE WATT: Yes. I sometimes look at my previous books, and can't believe I did them. There are moments in your life when what's happening in your personal life and what's happening in your work life are kind of linked, and you can feel it.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What is an example where that has happened for you?

MÉLANIE WATT: Scaredy Squirrel is a book idea that I had ten years ago. I had actually shown a story to the publisher, and it wasn't working. It was about a squirrel and a nut tree, but there were other characters, and it wasn't at all funny. The idea of being afraid to leave your tree was there, but there was no humor, and there were no Martians or things like that.

I put it away for five years, and then I came to a time in my life where I thought, "Well, I've been making books for five years now, and I need to be able to make a living out of this. To be able to do that, I have to be at least able to make two books a year." I had just signed for Augustine and proposed to the publisher to have another book at the same time.

I often go to bookstores and look around and see what's happening. I had been really impressed with Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, and I thought, "It is so cool that if a pigeon wants to drive a bus, it doesn't have to make total sense. It doesn't have to be real. It can be crazy. It can be out there."

That's when I took out my manuscript for Scaredy Squirrel and thought, "Okay, think crazy, think out there." I started thinking that he fears poison ivy and Martians, and that's when Scaredy Squirrel started taking form.

The personal connection to my professional life was that while I was working on Scaredy Squirrel, we were renovating our home. When a carpenter would come to our house, I would help him out. He would go home at 4:00, and I would sit down in my unfinished basement and write Scaredy Squirrel and draw and make mock-ups.

It was a weird time, because Scaredy Squirrel never leaves his nut tree, and I wasn't leaving my house much. I was totally obsessed with making the book work.

TEACHINGBOOKS: The Scaredy Squirrel books are quite funny for children as well as for the teacher or other adult reading the books.

MÉLANIE WATT: I have never had that much fun working on a book before. I didn't know it was possible. Honestly, I previously liked to illustrate, but working on Scaredy Squirrel, everything kind of clicked for me because the story was funny. And laughing does not come easily to me.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Did you know you wanted to do more Scaredy Squirrel books right away?

MÉLANIE WATT: I knew that Scaredy was about graphics and telling a story through graphics. At first, there was some concern from the publisher about whether or not kids will get the humor of the Scaredy books. But I think it's been proven that kids do get it.

Scaredy, at the end, always takes a baby step forward, but he's still Scaredy Squirrel. He doesn't turn into this perfect squirrel every time at the end. He just gets a little bit better. I think that's what everyone kind of has to deal with—every day—just trying to cope and trying to get better and figure out what's next.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What are some specifics for the different Scaredy Squirrel books? Please share a little something about the stories.

MÉLANIE WATT: The first book, Scaredy Squirrel, is about fear in general; the unknown and kind of breaking out of a routine. The important thing about that book was the implied questions, "How are you supposed to know what you're capable of if you never try anything? How are you ever going to discover if you have a talent? How would he know he was a flying squirrel if he never had to fly out of the tree?" It's easy to get too comfortable in one place.

The second book, Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend, is about socializing and the fear that is all around us. I always try to have some sort of reflection of what's going on in the world, and today, people don't seem to want to talk face to face. They'd rather send emails. We see in the media that you need to fear germs with handshakes, and that you shouldn't talk to strangers. There's so much fear out there. That's what I wanted to reflect in Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend: that you might not know exactly what package friendship can come in. And the idea of a squirrel being friends with a dog that drools and has muddy paws would be a squirrel's worst nightmare. But he ends up being a friend in his own way.

TEACHINGBOOKS: How did you decide what animal would become Scaredy's friend?

MÉLANIE WATT: I didn't know that a dog would be Scaredy's friend when I started working on the book. It was originally a rabbit. Then I figured out that it was going to be a dog, because it made more sense to me. I was halfway through the book by that point. I never know how the Scaredy Squirrel stories are going to end when I start. It's a big puzzle. I have pages and pages of graphics, but I don't know what's going to go into that graphic. It can have a pie-chart graphic and know that I want to use one, but I don't know what it will be about. It will come as I go.

TEACHINGBOOKS: How about Scaredy Squirrel Goes to the Beach?

MÉLANIE WATT: Scaredy Squirrel Goes to the Beach is about the fear of traveling and going outside your comfort zone. It's about wanting to experience a vacation without having to go through the trouble of planning one or going somewhere.

It's also about a fear of over-packing, and packing for safety. When people take a vacation to somewhere where they don't know what's going to happen, they want to be overly prepared. Scaredy traveling to the beach is a big issue, and the trip happens all because his beach at home is not perfect; it's also about his quest for perfection.

In every Scaredy book, what he tries to avoid always comes to him anyway because of the way he tried to avoid it. So when I sit down for the next book, I think, "Okay, what is Scaredy trying to avoid? He's going to cause the problem by trying to avoid it, and he's going to have to deal with it."

TEACHINGBOOKS: And Scaredy Squirrel at Night?

MÉLANIE WATT: Scaredy Squirrel at Night is about how we're becoming a sleepless society by trying to do too much. People have crazy schedules and they don't want to sleep, or they're thinking too much to sleep. Again, it's about the vicious cycle where what you're trying to avoid is creating problems and comes back at you. How are you supposed to think straight if you're not getting enough sleep?

In Scaredy's case, I added the other dimension of the fear of fantasy: nightmarish things like unicorns and ghosts and all that. I think every kid—at one point—dreads having a monster under their bed. It's easy to get carried away with your imagination, but sometimes just taking a step back and realizing that this might be your imagination is what can solve the problem.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Are you tiring of Scaredy Squirrel?

MÉLANIE WATT: Well, he's getting more and more complex, but I don't want it to become complex. There are usually two or three different levels in every book—topics I want to talk about. It's getting more tricky, but I think there's a lot of fear in everything. Fear is different for different ages and situations. It can be a visit to the dentist. It can be a camping trip. It's just a question of me trying to figure out how to really refresh it every time. The next Scaredy book is called Scaredy Squirrel's Birthday.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Please talk now about your Chester books, and how your creative process compares to that of your Scaredy Squirrel books.

MÉLANIE WATT: I use a totally different approach with Chester books. Scaredy Squirrel books are like a bunch of puzzles that need to fit in together. But Chester books involve action-reaction. I work one page at a time, and I kind of have an idea of how it's going to end, but I don't know what Chester is going to say back to me. It's like having a little discussion in my head.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Chester really brings the elements of a book to the attention of the reader: the voice, the author. I love that you (Chester) messed with all the little parts of the book, including the dedication and the author notes.

MÉLANIE WATT: Chester defies authority and the standards of what a book should be. He takes the serious side out of things. His message is that books should be a certain way, but he can change that if he wants to. It's like I'm the parent and he's the child. You can see the mouse as being the sibling or competition for attention.

Chester has an ego. He's bossy, but he's not a bad cat. He's always questioning me, wondering, "Why do you get to decide?" Chester always uses a little twist, or wittiness, with his responses, and gets readers thinking. It empowers kids, to have these books mirroring their creativity and how to use it.

The books are also about problem solving. I'm in the way, so how can Chester get rid of me? I get a lot of letters from kids where they talk to Chester and say things like, "Chester, give back the marker." But they have Chester interfere with their own letter. I just love how this triggers creativity on so many levels.

Children know how Chester works, and they have fun continuing that character on their own. I think it's cool that kids can tap into Chester's character right away and know how to continue. In a way, they become the adult with Chester.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Please talk more about the role-playing that the Chester books inspire.

MÉLANIE WATT: I went to a school, and around the gym were pictures of kids' interpretations of Chester. There was a drawing of the principal tied up in the office. I thought, "Wow, kids drew that but blamed it on Chester."

It's interesting to me to see them express themselves in a way that usually would not go well. But since it's Chester's fault, it's acceptable. It's using art and creativity to express how you feel at that moment.

Sometimes kids focus more on that expressive aspect of Chester, and some focus more on the celebrity-driven aspect of Chester. For example, I have seen drawings showing Chester on Oprah. Or he's in a limousine or something, where the appealing side of Chester is that he wants to be a star.

TEACHINGBOOKS: You also put yourself in the Chester books. You're an imperative character in the stories.

MÉLANIE WATT: Yeah. I must admit, at the beginning, I had my doubts about doing that, because I didn't want to attract attention to myself. But it takes away the seriousness of being an author-illustrator.

Sometimes I think people think I've studied writing, but I've never considered myself a writer. The first story I ever wrote was Leon the Chameleon. I did not write before. I want children to understand that I don't have an intimidating background. Anyone can write. Anyone can draw.

TEACHINGBOOKS: It doesn't sound like you were given that message as a child.

MÉLANIE WATT: I wish someone had told me that anyone can write and draw. When I was little and studying French in Québec, I was told I was not good at spelling or writing. When I was in Toronto studying English, I was told I was not good at spelling and writing. I've always been told by teachers that I was not good in the languages, so it kind of got ruled out for me in my brain.

I don't want kids to rule out a career in the arts because they think that other people have known how to do art since they were born. I really want kids to know that it's about creativity first, and then a willingness to do it. It is intimidating at first, to sit down and start writing a book. But you have got to take a risk. You have got to just draw and start thinking of ideas and not be afraid to do it, because it is intimidating to first sit down and start writing a book.

I remember typing Scaredy Squirrel on the computer and thinking to myself, "What are you doing? What is this thing?" It's very scary to put down your thoughts and go to someone and say, "I think this matters. I think you need to read this."

TEACHINGBOOKS: How do you see your books being used in the classroom?

MÉLANIE WATT: What's really cool is that the stories can be used in classrooms to inspire kids, and they can be helpful not only in terms of art, but in how we think of things.

I've gotten letters from teachers saying that when they present things, they're starting to use the graphics of Scaredy Squirrel to break topics up into different graphics. They're inspired by the books to do that.

I struggled in school because I was so visual. If things would have been presented in more visuals, I think they would have been easier for me to understand. I think it's cool that we can use art to help understand things that don't have to do with art.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Do you compose in French or English?

MÉLANIE WATT: I write everything in English but think in French. I'm considering French while I'm writing in English. In the Chester and Scaredy books I try to make sure that I can translate the humor and the gags in French, so the languages are not something I can separate.

What's really interesting is that sometimes I can translate word for word in French. Because English is not my first language, often the way I write in English is really close to some of the sentences in French. Sometimes when I'm doing the French translation, I'll go back to the English text and make a change because my thought process in French brings me to another level that I hadn't thought of in English.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What do you do when you get stuck?

MÉLANIE WATT: I work on something else, or I try not to think about it in my office and I get out.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What is a typical workday like for you?

MÉLANIE WATT: I'll be drawing things, scanning things, assembling them on the computer, then changing them around until something triggers an idea that I really want to pursue. Usually, that will take up a couple of weeks of intensive time. And then I'll figure out what the book is, and I will go one page at a time and execute it. Some days I can finish at 11:00 at night. Sometimes I'll finish earlier.

Not every day is the same. I don't have a routine like Scaredy Squirrel, but my work is really driven by my investment, my passion for the project in the moment. I'll be totally obsessed with something and work on it all the time and hardly stop for anything. But other times, I will have days where I just go and sit outside and think about things in a non-rushed way. It's all or nothing for me.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What inspires those periods of passion in your work?

MÉLANIE WATT: I don't always know what's going to trigger my interests. But what makes me work well and quickly is when I feel like I'm working on something that's new, something that could surprise people. Something that feels weird or cool. The best part is when you work without knowing you're working, when everyone around you is going, what are you doing? But I feel like I'm not working.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What do you like to tell teachers?

MÉLANIE WATT: I like to tell them that I remember all the moments when teachers encouraged me. It matters. Taking time with kids—to say something or to encourage them or to guide them in a direction—is worth the time.

In some cases, I had teachers telling me, "No, you're not good at that." That stays, too. Sometimes kids give the impression that they're not really there and they don't care. But they do, and they remember.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What do you like to tell students?

MÉLANIE WATT: Do not be afraid to try and be creative. Do what you want to do. It's just a question of working at it.

TEACHINGBOOKS: Please talk about your art technique or media.

MÉLANIE WATT: I have always worked in acrylic paint. But now I tend to explore the digital aspect of art. It doesn't mean it's entirely digital, but I like to manipulate images on the computer, and see what happens when I layer different techniques and textures.

My work has evolved. When you look at the Chester books, Chester is made out of pieces of art. I assemble Chester on the computer: I draw him, scan him, and assemble him. For me, it's freedom because I used to send originals and have them scanned. But to be able to work on the final files and send those, it gives me more freedom to fuss over all the details. I'm a control freak.

My characters, it turns out, are also control freaks. I got a letter once from a class that had drawn a Venn diagram of Scaredy's and Chester's characteristics. Where the two circles overlapped, they wrote, "control freak." I had never thought about that, that they are both control freaks. It's interesting that a nervous, scared character like Scaredy and an egotistical, loud personality like Chester have that in common.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What projects are forthcoming?

MÉLANIE WATT: There is a book coming called You're Finally Here. It's entirely digital, and kind of 3D looking. It's the story of a rabbit that's been waiting in a book for you to open the book and read. He's excited about you finally arriving to open the book. But he's also asking, "Where were you?" It is inspired by kids asking their parents "Are you going to come and pick me up?" Or "Where were you? I was waiting for you." It's about wanting to constantly be reassured.

I'm hoping that kids will get out of this that you can't just focus on what didn't happen. You have to focus on what's happening. It's about being in the moment. If I had to sum it up in a sentence, it is: enjoy what's happening now and not obsess about the past, the future, or your worries.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What's the design element that motivated you for You're Finally Here?

MÉLANIE WATT: I wanted a character to address the reader. I want it to be interactive in the sense that the rabbit is talking directly to you, the reader, and making arguments about why you should have been there sooner.

TEACHINGBOOKS: What do you like best about being a children's book author/illustrator?

MÉLANIE WATT: My favorite thing to hear from people is that my books have made reading time with their kids fun. They say they do the voices, and they take turns, etc. It makes me happy to think that reading my books can create a fun, relaxing moment.

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