• Age: 7 to 18
• Grade: 2 to 12

See below for English description.

Une mouche entre dans une maison par une porte entrouverte. Elle passe par la salle de bain, traverse la cuisine, zigzague jusqu'à la chambre et se pose dans le salon où sa vie se verra à jamais changée suite à la pression d'un simple petit bouton. Happée dans le sac poussiéreux d'un aspirateur, la mouche aura à passer par les cinq phases du deuil: le déni, le marchandage, la colère, le désespoir et l'acceptation. Est-ce qu'elle pourra se libérer de cet endroit sale et sombre? La lumière apparaîtra-t-elle au bout du tunnel?

Une histoire émouvante remplie de suspens et d'humour à la Mélanie Watt. Un excellent livre pour aborder le thème du deuil avec les enfants de tous âges.

A bug flies through an open door into a house, through a bathroom, across a kitchen and a bedroom and into a living room… where its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance — the five stages of grief — as it comes to terms with its fate. Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel? Will there be dust bunnies in the void?

A funny, suspenseful, and poignant look at the travails of a bug trapped in a vacuum. The book you have been waiting for to explain the five stages of grief to children of all ages.

Original title: Bug in a Vacuum

La jeune auteure-illustratrice Mélanie Watt, née à Trois-Rivières, a remporté pour son travail de prestigieuses récompenses, dont le Prix Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz, le Prix Blue Spruce et le Prix Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon, tous les trois pour Frisson l'écureuil.

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

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. 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. Chester, Chester's Back! and Chester's Masterpiece are about a megalomaniac cat who is every bit the antithesis to Scaredy. Chester has already become a bestseller, and shows the breadth and creativity of Mélanie Watt.

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. 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.

Mélanie currently resides near Montreal, Quebec.

Melanie Watt's profile page

• Long-listed, Prix jeunesse des libraires du Québec
• Short-listed, Prix Tamarac Express
• Short-listed, Prix Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon (illustrations)
• Short-listed, Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général

«Un album tout en finesse pour aborder le thème difficile de la perte.» -- Les libraires

«Le jeu des couleurs, passant de l'obscur fond du sac au rayon lumineux de la sortie — véritable espoir au bout du tunnel —, est particulièrement signifiant et ajoute à la portée philosophique de cet album franchement bien réussi.» -- Le Devoir