In his literary debut, Tes mégots, Hugo!, Saskatoon-based author Jean-Marie Michaud tells a heartfelt story about a real-life friendship, together with an important message about human impacts on the environment.

Michaud’s path to Saskatchewan was an unexpected one. He left Vancouver almost 40 years ago when a travelling theatre troupe from Saskatoon invited him to create giant puppets with them.

“The warm welcome from my colleagues and the many attractions of the Prairies and the Meewasin Valley won me over,” he says.

While new to book publishing, Michaud brings decades’ worth of writing experience to the page. After working in film and theatre for many years, he joined the Cercle des écrivaines et écrivains to hone his dramatic writing skills, while also attending writing retreats and publishing online, including in the literary column “Horizons” of the newspaper L’Eau vive.

“This long journey has finally led me to publish my first book,” Michaud says.

The picture book’s characters, Hugo and Anna, are drawn from Michaud’s life. Anna is based on his former neighbour, to whom he fondly dedicates the story.

“I watched my little neighbour grow up from childhood,” he reminisces. “Her intelligence and enthusiasm for coming to garden in my yard and teaching me her lessons always amazed me.”

The book addresses cigarette butt pollution – an environmental issue that emerged naturally from Michaud’s friendship with his young neighbour.

“Thanks to her, I realized that a simple gesture, repeated thousands of times every day, has significant ecological consequences.”

Michaud’s words come to life through the collaboration with Masoud Gharehbaghi, whose expressive illustrations capture the gentle power of the story. Having discovered his passion as a student in 2016, Gharehbaghi has worked professionally on picture books since 2019.

“I aim to capture the essence of the story in pictures, briefly and concisely,” he says. “Moreover, as an illustrator, I often try to express what the story leaves unsaid or what cannot be easily conveyed through the text alone.”

Together, Michaud and Gharehbaghi have created a beautiful book for early readers about caring for the natural world. The book’s calming garden scenes evoke a sense of reflection, reminding readers, young and old, to consider the impact of small actions – to life today and in the future.

“Each generation inherits the world that has been left to them with the responsibility of preserving it for the next,” says Michaud.

“Anna’s message is a universal one about the health of all living things in our rivers and oceans.”