Welcome
Hi! I'm Melissa.I revere the read-aloud.As a social worker (and former/forever child), I've seen how much magic rests in that ritual.I write stories that honor moments of shared time between a child and a loving grown-up; after all, reading a picture book is love in action.
About Me
I had a nightmare about fish in 1989 and avoided the ocean for decades. (Did you know that if a fish were to touch you, you'd turn into one?) But a so-called friend talked me into confronting that fear with SCUBA diving...So here I am confronting my fear of baring my creative heart to a world that might judge it and reject it. (I mean, even The Beatles and Taylor Swift have haters).I've been a foreign policy wonk in DC, a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and a social worker in Scotland. The thread connecting all is my love of my fellow humans and my hope for a future where people are secure, loved, and curious about (not threatened by) difference. I write for a better world. The kids of today deserve it. So do the fishes and birds and slugs and ferns.PS: I am still a teensy bit scared of snorkeling. At least in the deep, you have water below AND above to avoid any fish collision.
On Books
My first-grade teacher pulled me aside one day to read a book on a topic the adults in my life were struggling to talk about. Our moments together with that book let me know I had someone I could go to, and planted a seed of healing.Years later, working as a social worker, I was reminded that sharing a book is an act of connection and love. Perhaps that’s why I find so much meaning and joy in drafting read-alouds.Below are some of the topics of my books:- Found family, flying ice cream, food-motivated dogs;
- Rainbow sherbet skies and chasing pie-in-the-sky ideas;
- Presents! (and presence and birthdays);
- Coral gardening (and birthdays);
- Connection among difference;
- Ways to spin a story (courtesy of Arachne);
- Bee stings and the power of a story;
- Secret agent hamsters;
- Rabbits and rab-bots;
- The measurement of time across time...and also I sometimes write in rhyme. (I have a handle on meter and it's gloriously fun).