Melissa Stewart
{{short description|American author of children's books}}
{{Use mdy dates |date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox author
| name = Melissa Stewart
| image = Melissa Stewart.jpg
| caption = Melissa Stewart
| nationality = American
| occupation = Author
| alma_mater = {{plainlist}}
{{endplainlist}}
| awards = {{plainlist}}
- Cybils Award (2015);
- Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor (2022)
{{endplainlist}}
}}
Melissa Stewart is an American author of children's books on a wide range of science and nature topics and an independent researcher of nonfiction literature for young people. She has published more than 200 books for toddlers, children, and teens as well as several books for educators.
Early life and education
Stewart grew up in Massachusetts and attended Hampshire Regional High School.{{Cite web |title=Nonfiction Reading Resources |url=https://www.melissa-stewart.com/about/becoming_a_writer.html |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Melissa Stewart |archive-date=2021-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125231045/https://www.melissa-stewart.com/about/becoming_a_writer.html |url-status=live}} She received a Bachelor's degree in biology from Union College and a master's degree in science journalism from New York University.{{Cite web |title=Nonfiction Reading Resources |url=https://www.melissa-stewart.com/about/about_melissa.html |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Melissa Stewart |archive-date=2022-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525143125/https://www.melissa-stewart.com/about/about_melissa.html |url-status=live}}
Career
Following graduation, she worked as an editor of high school science textbooks for a small book packager in New York City.{{Cite web |title=Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-stewart-2483693/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=LinkedIn}} Later, she moved to Connecticut and edited traditional nonfiction science books for Franklin Press and Children's Press, two imprints owned by Grolier/Hachette and then Scholastic.{{Cite web |title=Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-stewart-2483693/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=LinkedIn}}
During this period, she also worked as a freelance science writer, publishing dozens of magazine articles for children and adults. Her first book, Life without Light: A Journey to Earth's Dark Ecosystems was published in 1998 and was named a New York Public Library Best Book for Teens.{{Cite web |title=Life Without Light |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/books/life_without_light/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Melissa Stewart}}
In 2000, she returned to Massachusetts and began writing articles and books full-time. Most of her early books were traditional nonfiction titles for the school and library market. Her first picture book, A Place for Butterflies, was published in 2006 and received the Green Earth Book Award.{{Cite web |title=A Place for Butterflies |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/books/place_for_butterflies/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Melissa Stewart}} It has been revised twice and sold more than 350,000 copies. Since then, Melissa has published 25 expository literature picture books as well as traditional, browsable, and active nonfiction titles.{{Cite web |title=Melissa Stewart's Alphabetical Booklist |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/books/alphabetical_booklist/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Melissa Stewart}} Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.{{Cite web |title=Meet Melissa Stewart |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/meet_melissa/about/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Melissa Stewart}}
She also co-authored, with educator Nancy Chesley, Perfect Pairs: Using Fiction & Nonfiction Picture Books to Teach Life Science, K-2 and Perfect Pairs: Using Fiction & Nonfiction Picture Books to Teach Life Science, Grades 3-5.
In 2012, she began researching nonfiction literature for young people and, in 2017, developed the Nonfiction Family Tree, which evolved into the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction classification system and was fully described in 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children's Books, co-written by educator Marlene Correia. (,{{Cite web |title=The 5 Kinds of Nonfiction |url=https://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/12/behind-books-nonfiction-family-tree.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Celebrate Nonfiction}}{{Cite web |title=The Five Kinds of Nonfiction |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/5_Kinds_of_Nonfiction_SLJ_May_2018.pdf |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=School Library Journal}}) She also edited the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing and co-authored the Position Statement on the Role of Nonfiction Literature, K-12, which was adopted by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2023.{{Cite web |title=Position Statement on the Role of Nonfiction Literature, (K-12) |url=https://ncte.org/statement/role-of-nonfiction-literature-k-12/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=National Council of Teachers of English|date=January 19, 2023 }}
Her essays, articles, and op-eds on nonfiction literature and literacy have appeared in Book Links, Booklist, Knowledge Quest, Language Arts, Publishers Weekly, Reading Rockets, The Reading Teacher, School Library Connection, School Library Journal, Science, Science & Children, The Utah Journal of Literacy, and The Washington Post.{{Cite web |title=Articles for Educators |url=https://melissa-stewart.com/educators/articles_for_educators/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Melissa Stewart}}
Awards and honors
Thirteen of Stewart's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Under the Snow (2009),{{Cite web |title=Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781561454938J&name=Under_the_Snow |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} No Monkeys, No Chocolate (2013),{{Cite web |title=No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781580892872J&name=No_Monkeys_No_Chocolate |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Feathers: Not Just for Flying (2014),{{Cite web |title=Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781580894302J&name=Feathers |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Zoom In on Grasshoppers (2015),{{Cite web |title=Zoom In on Grasshoppers by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780766042148J&name=Zoom_In_on_Grasshoppers |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Las Serpientes (Snakes) (2016),{{Cite web |title=Las Serpientes (Snakes) by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781426325977J&name=Snakes_(SP) |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} A Seed is the Start (2019),{{Cite web |title=A Seed is the Start by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781426329777J&name=Seed_is_the_Start |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Los Animales Más Mortales (Deadliest Animals),{{Cite web |title=Los Animales Más Mortales (Deadliest Animals) by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781426326066J&name=Deadliest_Animals_(SP) |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Seashells (2019),{{Cite web |title=Seashells : More Than a Home by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781580898102J&name=Seashells |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Summertime Sleepers (2021),{{Cite web |title=Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781580897167J&name=Summertime_Sleepers |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=2021-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922112710/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781580897167J&name=Summertime_Sleepers |url-status=live}} Fourteen Monkeys (2021),{{Cite web |title=Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781534460393J&name=Fourteen_Monkeys |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=2021-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128232924/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781534460393J&name=Fourteen_Monkeys |url-status=live}} Tree Hole Homes (2022),{{Cite web |title=Tree Hole Homes: Daytime Dens and Nighttime Nooks by Melissa Stewart |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780593373316J&name=Tree_Hole_Homes |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307151049/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780593373316J&name=Tree_Hole_Homes |url-status=live}}Mega-Predators of the Past (2022),{{Cite web |title=Mega-Predators of the Past |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/mega-predators-of-the-past-9781682631096j |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Junior Library Guild}} and Meet the Mini-Mammals (2025).{{Cite web |title=Meet the Mini-Mammals: A Night at the Natural History Museum |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/meet-the-mini-mammals-a-night-at-the-nat-9781665947169j |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Junior Library Guild}}
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books included Feathers: Not Just for Flying in their list of the best books of 2014.{{Cite web |title=2014 Blue Ribbons |url=https://bccb.ischool.illinois.edu/blueribbons/2014-blue-ribbons/ |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books |archive-date=2022-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925233249/https://bccb.ischool.illinois.edu/blueribbons/2014-blue-ribbons/ |url-status=live}}
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Awards for Stewart's books !Year !Title !Award !Result !Ref. |
| 2007
|A Place for Butterflies |Green Earth Book Award |Winner |
| 2009
|Under the Snow |Massachusetts Book Award |Finalist |
| rowspan="4" |2010
|National Geographic Readers: Ants |Cybils Award for Easy Readers |Finalist |
| A Place for Birds
|Green Earth Book Award |Honor |
| Under the Snow
|California Eureka! Book Award |Honor |
| Under the Snow
|Commend |
| 2011
|A Place for Frogs |Green Earth Book Award |Honor |
| rowspan="2" |2012
| rowspan="2" |A Place for Bats |AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books |Finalist |
| Correll Book Award for Excellence in Informational Text
|Winner |
| rowspan="3" |2013
| A Place for Bats |Green Earth Book Award |Honor |
| rowspan="2"| A Place for Turtles
|Massachusetts Book Award |Finalist |
| Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award for Children's Literature
|Winner |
| rowspan="4" |2014
|Beneath the Sun |Commend |
| Feathers: Not Just for Flying
|Cybils Award for Elementary and Middle Grade |Winner |
| No Monkeys, No Chocolate
|Cook Prize for Best STEM Picture Book |Finalist |
| A Place for Turtles
|Green Earth Book Award |Winner |
| rowspan="2"|2015
|rowspan="2"|Feathers: Not Just for Flying |Association for Library Service to Children|ALSC Notable Children's Books |Selection |{{Cite web |last=Schulte-Cooper |first=Laura |date=2015-03-03 |title=ALSC names 2015 Notable Children's Books |url=https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2015/03/alsc-names-2015-notable-childrens-books |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=American Library Association}} |
| John Burroughs Riverby Award
|Winner |
| 2017
|Droughts |AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books |Finalist |
| rowspan="5" |2018
|Can an Aardvark Bark? |Colorado Book Awards |Winner |
| rowspan="4"|Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs
| California Eureka! Book Award |Winner |
| Massachusetts Book Award
|Honor |
| Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award
|Finalist |
| SCBWI Golden Kite Award
|Honor |
| rowspan="2" |2019
|rowspan="2" |Seashells: More Than a Home |Cybils Award for Elementary |Finalist |
| Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award
|Finalist |
| 2020
|Seashells: More Than a Home |Correll Book Award for Excellence in Informational Text |Winner |
| 2021
|Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme |California Eureka Book Award |Honor |
| rowspan="4" |2022
|Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme |Washington State Towner Book Award |Honor |
| rowspan="3" |Summertime Sleepers
|Association for Library Service to Children|ALSC Notable Children's Books |Selection |
| Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award
|Finalist |
| Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
|Honor |
| rowspan="2" |2023
|Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate |Oklahoma Donna Norvell Award |Winner |
| Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-floor Ecosystem
|AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books |Finalist |
| rowspan="2" |2024
|Tree Hole Homes: Daytime Dens and Nighttime Nooks |Yellowstone Jackhammer Picture Book Award |Finalist |
| Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-floor Ecosystem
|ALSC Notable Children's Books |Selection |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.melissa-stewart.com/ Official website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Melissa}}
Category:Union College (New York) alumni
Category:New York University alumni