Melissa Stewart




Melissa Stewart has written more than 180 science books for children, including the ALA Notable Feathers: Not Just for Flying, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen, the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor title Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis; and Can an Aardvark Bark?, illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Steve Jenkins. She co-wrote (with 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 and edited the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing. 

Melissa contributed chapters to Informational Texts in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade-three Classroom by Elaine M. Bukowiecki and Marlene P. Correia and (with Terrell Young) to Does Nonfiction Equate Truth? Rethinking Disciplinary Boundaries through Critical Literacy, edited by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw, Laura Anne Huddock, and Ruth McKoy Lowery, andcontributed articles to Book Links, Booklist, The Reading Teacher, Reading Today, School Library Connection, School Library Journal, and Science Books & Films. She served as a guest lecturer at Bridgewater State College, Columbia University, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Framingham State University, Harvard University, The Highlights Foundation, Lesley University, Olin College, Pine Manor College, Rhode Island College, Rutgers University, Salisbury University, Salve Regina University, Shenandoah University, Simmons College, Southern Connecticut State University, TEDxWomen, Union College, University of Maine at Orono, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Worcester State College.

Melissa earned a BS in biology from Union College in Schenectady, NY, and a master’s degree in science and environmental journalism from New York University. She maintains the award-winning blog Celebrate Science and serves on the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators board of advisors. Her highly-regarded website features a rich array of nonfiction writing resources.

Melissa Stewart

Websites: melissa-stewart.com

Twitter: @mstewartscience

Titles by Author (shown below):
3 products
5 Kinds of Nonfiction
5 Kinds of Nonfiction
Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia
Paperback
$39.33 $29.50 Save $9.83
Perfect Pairs, 3-5
Perfect Pairs, 3-5
Melissa Stewart and Nancy Chesley
Paperback
$42.66 $32.00 Save $10.66
Perfect Pairs, K-2
Perfect Pairs, K-2
Melissa Stewart and Nancy Chesley
Paperback
$42.66 $32.00 Save $10.66
Melissa Stewart and Marlene Correia:::100153

5 Kinds of Nonfiction

9781625314178

$39.33 $29.50 Save $9.83
Once upon a time...children's nonfiction books were stodgy, concise, and not very kid friendly. Most were text heavy, with just a few scattered images decorating the content and meaning, rather than enhancing it. Over the last 20 years, children's nonfiction has evolved into a new breed of visually dynamic and engaging texts.

In 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books, Melissa Stewart and Dr. Marlene Correia present a new way to sort nonfiction into five major categories and show how doing so can help teachers and librarians build stronger readers and writers. Along the way, they:
  • Introduce the 5 kinds of nonfiction: Active, Browseable, Traditional, Expository Literature, and Narrative—and explore each category through discussions, classroom examples, and insights from leading children’s book authors
  • Offer tips for building strong, diverse classroom texts and library collections
  • Provide more than 20 activities to enhance literacy instruction
  • Include innovative strategies for sharing and celebrating nonfiction with students. 

With more than 150 exemplary nonfiction book recommendations and Stewart and Correia’s extensive knowledge of literacy instruction, 5 Kinds of Nonfiction will elevate your understanding of nonfiction in ways that speak specifically to the info-kids in your classrooms, but will inspire all readers and writers.
5 Kinds of Nonfiction
Melissa Stewart and Nancy Chesley:::100153

Perfect Pairs, 3-5

9781571109590

$42.66 $32.00 Save $10.66

Hands-on lessons can be fun and compelling, but when it comes to life science, they aren't always possible, practical, effective, or safe. Children can't follow wolves as they hunt elk, visit a prehistoric swamp, or shrink down to the size of a molecule and observe photosynthesis firsthand.  But they can explore a whole world of animals, plants, and ecosystems through the pages of beautifully illustrated, science-themed picture books.

Perfect Pairs, which marries fiction and nonfiction picture books focused on life science, helps educators think about and teach life science in a whole new way. Each of the twenty lessons in this book is built around a pair of books that introduces a critical life science concept and guides students through an inquiry-based investigative process to explore that idea—from life cycles and animal-environment interactions to the inheritance of traits and the critical role of energy in our world.

Each lesson starts with a "Wonder Statement" and comprises three stages. "Engaging Students" features a hands-on activity that captures student interest, uncovers current thinking, and generates vocabulary. The heart of the investigative process, "Exploring with Students," spotlights the paired books as the teacher reads aloud and helps students find and organize information into data tables. "Encouraging Students to Draw Conclusions" shows students how to review and analyze the information they have collected. Bringing high-quality science-themed picture books into the classroom engages a broad range of students, addresses the Performance Expectations outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards, and supports the goals of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Even if you are science shy, Perfect Pairs can help you become a more confident teacher whose classroom buzzes with curious students eager to explore their natural world.

Perfect Pairs, 3-5
Melissa Stewart and Nancy Chesley:::100153

Perfect Pairs, K-2

9781571109583

$42.66 $32.00 Save $10.66
Hands-on lessons can be fun and compelling, but when it comes to life science, they aren’t always possible, practical, effective, or safe. Children can’t follow a lion as it stalks a gazelle, visit the exotic kapok tree in a rain forest, or swim alongside the underwater life in a pond. But they can explore a whole world of animals, plants, and ecosystems through the pages of beautifully illustrated, science-themed picture books.
 
Perfect Pairs, which marries fiction and nonfiction picture books focused on life science, helps educators think about and teach life science in a whole new way. Each of the twenty-two lessons in this book is built around a pair of books that introduces a critical life science concept and guides students through an inquiry-based investigative process to explore that idea—from animal/environment interactions to the role of structure in plant and animal survival, from inheritance of traits to variation of species.
 
Each lesson starts with a “Wonder Statement” and comprises three stages. “Engaging Students” features a hands-on activity that captures student interest, uncovers current thinking, and generates vocabulary. The heart of the investigative process, “Exploring with Students,” spotlights the paired books as the teacher reads aloud and helps students find and organize information into data tables. “Encouraging Students to Draw Conclusions” shows students how to review and analyze the information they have collected. Bringing high-quality science-themed picture books into the classroom engages a broad range of students, addresses the Performance Expectations outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards, and supports the goals of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
 
Even if you are science shy, Perfect Pairs can help you become a more confident teacher whose classroom buzzes with curious students eager to explore their natural world.
Perfect Pairs, K-2