{{Short description|American children's book illustrator}} {{Infobox person | name = Margot Austin | birth_name = Margaret Helser | birth_date = September 18, 1907 | birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S. | death_date = June 25, 1990 (age 82) | death_place = New Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. | alma_mater = National Academy of Design | occupation = Children's book illustrator, author }}
'''Margot M. Helser Austin''' (September 18, 1907 – June 25, 1990)<ref name=":0">These are the birth and death date given in the U.S. Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry. It is confirmed by an Oregon birth certificate dated September 18, 1907, also via Ancestry. Other sources give her year of birth as 1908, including her marriage license and her ''New York Times'' obituary. </ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /> Her mother was a stenographer, born in Canada. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised in her maternal grandparents' household in Portland.<ref>1920 United States census, via Ancestry.</ref> She attended St. Mary's Academy<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Catherine |date=1943-01-03 |title=January Art Exhibitions Hold Appeal for Children |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian-january-art-exhibit/175297967/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Sunday Oregonian |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and the National Academy of Design in New York. She also studied with the Art Students League of New York.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1990-06-26 |title=Margot Austin; Children's Author, 81 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/26/obituaries/margot-austin-children-s-author-81.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== 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,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Commins |first=Kathleen M. |date=1959-06-20 |title=Books for Children; For the Very Young |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-books-for-chil/175296753/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eberle |first=Merab |author-link=Merab Eberle |date=1942-08-02 |title=Churchkitten and His Thinking Cap Manage to Break Starvation Threat (review) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-herald-churchkitten-and-his/175297359/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Journal Herald |pages=44 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> "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."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Mahoney |first=E. |date=1944-08-20 |title=Tonic for Vacation-Sated Children from Peter Churchmouse's Creator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-montgomery-advertiser-tonic-for-vaca/175296529/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Montgomery Advertiser |pages=28 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Austin's illustrations were exhibited at the Portland Art Museum in 1943.<ref name=":2" /> Her book ''Gabriel Churchkitten'' was adapted as an animated film short in 1944. The ''Churchmouse Stories'' were published in a single volume in 1956.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=1956-11-04 |title=Gay Churchmouse Stories Collected in One Volume (review) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-jackson-sun-gay-churchmouse-stories/175297635/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Jackson Sun |pages=31 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Personal life == Margot Helser married fellow artist Darrel Raymond Austin in 1933.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1963-01-13 |title=New Fairfield Artist Praised for One-Man Exhibit in London |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bridgeport-post-darrel-austin/13258651/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Bridgeport Post |pages=80 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They had a son, Darrel Jr.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1994-08-20 |title=Darrel Austin, 88, Visionary Painter Of Mythical Scenes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/20/obituaries/darrel-austin-88-visionary-painter-of-mythical-scenes.html |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The New York Times |pages=29 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She died in 1990 at the age of 82 in her home in New Fairfield, Connecticut.<ref name=":1" /> There is a box of her illustrations and publishing paperwork in the University of Minnesota Libraries.<ref>[https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/4/resources/2767 Margot Austin Collection], Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota.</ref>
== Publications ==
=== As author and illustrator ===
* ''Moxie & Hanty & Bunty'' (1939)<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=MacMillan |first=Eleanor T. |date=1941-08-17 |title=Books |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal-bookseleanor-t/175297783/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Oregon Daily Journal |pages=43 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''Barney's Adventure'' (1941)<ref name=":6" /> * ''Peter Churchmouse'' (1941)<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> * ''Effelli'' (1942)<ref>{{Cite news |date=1942-02-08 |title=Adventures of a Baby Elephant (review) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-adventures-of-a/175297116/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''Gabriel Churchkitten'' (1942)<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> * ''Trumpet Churchdog'' (1943)<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> * ''Manuel’s Kite String, and other Stories'' (1943)<ref name=":2" /> * ''Lutie'' (1944)<ref name=":4" /> * ''Gabriel Churchkitten and the Moths'' (1948)<ref name=":5" /> * ''Poppet'' (1949) * ''The Three Silly Kittens'' (1950)<ref name=":5" /> * ''Growl Bear'' (1951)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Fran |date=1951-11-11 |title=Author of 5 Books for Young Readers Surveys Season's Harvest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-virginian-pilot-author-of-5-books-fo/175297021/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=The Virginian-Pilot |pages=80 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''First Prize for Danny'' (1952) * ''William's Shadow'' (1954) * ''Brave John Henry'' (1955) * ''Churchmouse Stories'' (1956)<ref name=":5" /> * ''Archie Angel'' (1957) * ''Cousin's Treasure'' (1960)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Freehoff |first=Bill |date=1960-10-02 |title=Story of Tiny Bear Will Delight Small Children |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/kingsport-times-news-story-of-tiny-bear/175297215/ |access-date=2025-06-26 |work=Kingsport Times-News |pages=17 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
=== 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)
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0042460}} {{authority control}} {{Portal |Children's literature}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Margot}} Category:1907 births Category:1990 deaths Category:American children's book illustrators Category:Artists from Portland, Oregon Category:Artists from Connecticut Category:American women children's book illustrators Category:20th-century American women artists Category:People from New Fairfield, Connecticut Category:20th-century American illustrators