Margot Austin

Margot M. Helser Austin (September 18, 1907 – June 25, 1990) was an American children's book illustrator, best known for her Churchmouse stories, a series of illustrated books about animals who live at a church.

Early life and education Margaret "Margot" Helser was born in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Peter Frederick Helser and Maria (Maud) Campbell Helser (later Swisher). Esther Pohl Lovejoy signed her 1907 Oregon birth certificate. She attended St. Mary's Academy and the National Academy of Design in New York. She also studied with the Art Students League of New York.

Career Austin illustrated many children's books and contributed to magazines including Jack and Jill Magazine. Among her many books was a series about small animals in the church of Parson Pease-Porridge, beginning with E. P. Dutton's 1941 publication of Peter Churchmouse. Author Merab Eberle called Austin's Gabriel Churchkitten "an enchanting bit of abysmal foolishness" in a 1942 review. "Miss Austin writes with an instinctive tenderness and in a refreshing style," wrote one reviewer in 1944. "There is a gentle radiance about her charcoal drawings."

Austin's illustrations were exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in 1943.

Personal life Margot Helser married fellow artist Darrel Raymond Austin in 1933. They had a son, Darrel Jr. She died in 1990 at the age of 82 in her home in New Fairfield, Connecticut.

Publications

As author and illustrator

Moxie & Hanty & Bunty (1939) Barney's Adventure (1941) Gabriel Churchkitten (1942) First Prize for Danny (1952) William's Shadow (1954) Brave John Henry (1955) Churchmouse Stories (1956)

As author

Once Upon a Springtime (1940) Tumble Bear (1940) Willamette Way (1941)

As illustrator A Friend for Growl Bear David’s Silver Dollar (1940) Mother Goose Rhymes (1940) My Brimful Book (1960) The Very Young Mother Goose (1963)