One rainy morning last November, Kids Can Press had a number of booksellers and librarians over to its Toronto offices for breakfast to mingle with executives and employees, and with picture-book author Mélanie Watt.

Watt’s third Scaredy Squirrel title, Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, had just rolled off the printing presses, and although books won’t go on sale until April, Kids Can wanted to start building the buzz early. The significance of the event was clear: for years, Kids Can has been eagerly looking to replicate the success of its long-running Franklin franchise, so Watt’s cleanly illustrated series about a cute, fearful animal is a dream come true. “I don’t think we ever signed a book as quickly as we did Scaredy Squirrel,” says publisher Karen Boersma.

But Kids Can’s new star author fell into children’s literature unexpectedly. She produced her first book, Leon the Chameleon, as a graphic-design assignment at the Université du Québec à Montréal; at that time, she was planning to pursue a career in advertising. At the prompting of a professor, she sent the book to Kids Can, which published it in 2001. “After that I was kind of hooked,” says the 32-year-old Watt over the phone from Montreal, where she lives with her husband (and a parrot named Kiwi).

Watt went on to produce a series of concept books about colours and shapes, as well as other character-driven picture books, but it’s the Scaredy character that’s drawing the most attention. The series centres on a squirrel who is afraid to leave his tree because of the perceived dangers surrounding him, such as bees, poison ivy, and green Martians. So he maintains a strict daily routine and keeps an emergency kit close at hand. Using few words, and with drawings that show the over-organized and limited life of Scaredy, Watt humorously addresses the fear of the unknown.

And so far, it’s working. The first title appeared in 2006, and a second, Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend, last spring; so far, says Kids Can, the books have sold 36,600 and 22,500 copies respectively. (Those totals include American sales; Kids Can sells into the U.S. directly.) Foreign rights have been sold in seven territories and there has been talk of a television show – presumably with Kids Can’s synergy-hungry parent company, Corus Entertainment, though the publisher won’t discuss details.

Franklin-type numbers are still a long way off, of course, and Boersma says her expectations for continued sales growth are realistic. “The first Franklin book was published in 1986,” she notes. “We recognize that it takes time, and that’s fine. We’re willing to be patient and see [Scaredy Squirrel] find its audience and build.”

To make that happen, Kids Can is keen on publishing a new Scaredy title each year; a fourth is already planned for 2009. And for her part, Watt says she’s feeling no Scaredy fatigue. “It allows me to go from one project to the next,” she says of the book-a-year pace. “I can do a Scaredy Squirrel and then I do another book – kind of get out in the world – and then I come back into it more refreshed.”

One of those other projects is another recurring picture-book character. Watt is currently writing a sequel to Chester, the story of an intrusive cat; the first Chester book was released last fall. Though Watt is excited about the Chester sequel, the franchise bet seems to be on Scaredy, and  Watt says developing a second series is not as important to her as simply having a fresh Chester story to tell.

Watt created the Scaredy character over five years, drawing on memories of her own childhood – she describes her family as not being “risk-takers” – and on a move to rural isolation. “In my mind I was trying to avoid anything that would create stress, anything that would have to get me out of my ordinary routine,” she says, adding that she also wanted to comment on the way society creates anxieties by bombarding us with warnings. “We’re obsessed with trying to stay secure and safe and sometimes it’s a really bizarre situation.”

Through her work on Scaredy, Watt says she has expanded her own boundaries. “Scaredy Squirrel is therapy to me,” she explains, laughing. “That book became successful and it kind of pushed me to travel alone, to do things I wouldn’t have done … public speaking, presentations, things like that. So there’s an irony in that.”

But even with the success and anticipation surrounding Scaredy and Chester, Watt is not planning to limit herself. “Definitely, I think there will be other characters. I don’t think I can help it, really,” says Watt. “I will always have the energy, I think, to want to push myself and discover what I’m capable of.”