Meet the illustrator Melissa Sweet

All of my work is done by hand. I’ve never mastered the computer for making art. The computer gives me too many choices and I’m always looking to narrow down the decisions. Working this way is slower, but it also allows for serendipity and being surprised by what’s happening in the process.

Melissa Sweet is an American author and illustrator of children’s books acclaimed for her vibrant mixed-media collage style combining watercolor, gouache, found objects, and layered textures. She has illustrated over 100 titles, including Caldecott Honor books A River of Words and The Right Word with Jen Bryant, and authored award-winning works such as Balloons Over Broadway and Some Writer!. Her art is entirely handcrafted, often based on extensive research and primary sources, and has earned her honors like the Sibert Medal, Orbis Pictus Award, Eric Carle Honors, and the Society of Illustrators’ Lifetime Achievement Award. Wikipedia

Image source: Maine Public Library

I’ve always been a forager and collector of tiny weird things (desiccated amphibians, buttons, rusty bottle caps). But a number of years ago I was saving some unsuccessful watercolors that I cut up and used in another painting. From there, adding other collaged elements to my paintings gave the art a freshness, making it less precious and more fun to make. Often our eyes will go the collaged elements and that difference gives the piece some visual tension. 

Here is a link to more images of work by Melissa Sweet

Take a look at all these Kirkus Star reviews and here is their interview from 2013. You can also see her work on Facebook and Instagram. 

I previously talked about these books illustrated by Melissa Sweet:

The right word

Some Writer!

How to write a poem

Cricket in the thicket

Charlotte in London

Baabwaa & Wooliam

Carmine A little more red

My friends and I spied this book in a local public library recently - perfect book for the 2026 CBCA slogan Symphony of Stories.

Read more here

I am also very keen to find these:

Alpha Maniacs Sweet’s illustrations accompanying each three- to five-page profile provide a beautiful pacing and design for the book, with precisely detailed backgrounds that often incorporate lined paper; maps and diagrams and cartoon interpretations that are both amusing and elucidating; and splashes of her signature warm reds and pinks that energize here and calm there. Kirkus Star review

Goldfinches: Using vintage papers, old maps, and photographed objects including a nest, the artist subdivides her layered compositions into multiple rectangles, inviting close observation and delighted discovery, while reserving plenty of airy space for Oliver’s poem to shine. Kirkus Star review

Seven Impossible Things talked to Melissa Sweet back in 2010: Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Melissa Sweet.

Perhaps you have seen some of these in your local or school library:

There is an UK mum on Instagram who posts a vintage children's picture book each day - she argues modern books are often not of the same quality and that our children and students should be exposed to 'better' titles. I do like some of the books she shares but I disagree that all recent kids books are of a lesser value. I wonder if she has seen the work of my illustrator today - Melissa Sweet. Here are a few of her recommendations. She has shared over 140 titles, and Jenny has the list of her first 100 titles for sale on her webpage:

Follow Your Nose Paul Showers, illustrated by Paul Galdone 1963

The Hidden House by Martin Waddell illus Angela Barrett, Walker Books, 1990

The Sandman Udo Weigelt, illustrated by Sibylle Heusser, 1993 German, 2003 English

The Mirrorstone by Michael Palin Illus by Alan Lee Holographic Images by Richard Seymour 1986

The Moon’s Revenge by Joan Aiken Illustrated by Alan Lee 1987

Good Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins 1973

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion illus. Margaret Bloy Graham 1954

Joseph’s Yard by Charles Keeping 1969 (I have read this one to hundreds of students)

The Elephant and The Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont Illustrated by Raymond Briggs 1969

Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram illustrated by Ruth Brown 1995

Borka by John Burningham 1962

The Tough Princess by Martin Waddell illustrated by Patrick Benson 1987

Winnie the Witch by Valerie Thomas illustrated by Korky Paul 1987

A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown 1981

Can’t You Sleep Little Bear? by Martin Waddell illustrated by Barbara Firth 1988

Feather by Cao Wenxuan (translation by Chloe Garcia Roberts) Illustrated by Roger Mello

Tusk Tusk by David McKee 1978

Catkin by Antonia Barber illustrated by P. J. Lynch 1994

Maggie and the Pirate by Ezra Jack Keats 1979

Goodnight Songs by Margaret Wise Brown

Goodnight Songs are a set of previously unpublished lullabies by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by twelve different illustrators. I knew six of the names and six I needed to investigate.  You already know I do enjoy books like this that bring together the work of different illustrators. 

Jonathan Bean; Carin Berger; Sophie Blackall; Linda Bleck; Renata Liwska; Christopher Silas Neal; Zachariah O'Hora; Eric Puybaret; Sean Qualls; Isabel Roxas; Melissa Sweet; and Dan Yaccarino. The cover illustration is by Isabel Roxas. You can see more of her books here. My fabourite pages are the ones by Eric Puybaret (from France) and Sophie Blackall.

Melissa Sweet

Watch this video to see and hear some of the illustrators and learn more about how this book came to be discovered and published. 

Listen to a two-minute audio sample here of the first lullaby - The Noon Balloon. There are links here to all of the songs (but this site does have advertisements). You can see all the pages from Goodnight Songs here. 

As for the poetry, it feels wonderfully, authentically Margaret Wise Brown. Though full of fanciful ideas and imagery, Brown’s work never gets to be “too much” for kids to digest. Her specialty has always been simple words and phrases, rocking repetition, and a youthful perspective—a kid’s-eye view, so to speak. These new poems are no different and employ the familiar language and lilt of her classics. Barnes and Noble

"One can hope to make a child laugh or feel clear and happy-headed as he follows the simple rhythm to its logical end. It can jog him with the unexpected and comfort him with the familiar, lift him for a few minutes from his own problems of shoelaces that won't tie, and busy parents and mysterious clock time, into the world of a bug or a bear or a bee or a boy living in the timeless world of a story." Margaret Wise Brown

Goodnight Songs was published in 2014 so it is now sadly out of print but if you can find a copy and you have a music teacher in your school you should share this book which comes with a CD so you can hear and sing each of the twelve lullabies. 

Cricket in the Thicket by Carol Murray illustrated by Melissa Sweet

There are thirty poems in this lively collection and as a bonus each page also has a small fact box with extra science details about the featured 'bug'.

Walking Stick Courage

If it's skinny
like a twig - 
and it looks 
like a twig - 
and it feels
like a twig - 
then -
it must be a twig.
C'mon, let's touch it.
You first!

I was browsing the poetry section of the library I visit each week (looking for one poem in a picture book for an IBBY talk we are preparing) when I spied this 'sweet' looking poetry collection. Melissa Sweet's art is always so special. Now for the bad news - yes this is out of print - but it might be available in your local or school library. This book was published in 2017.

Sweet’s dependably eye-catching illustrations—infused with humor here—are an appropriate match. Care was given to balancing gender among those poems that use pronouns, and there is, incidentally, a note devoted to the fact that female ladybugs are nearly indistinguishable from male ladybugs. Happy-go-lucky fun with words, collage, and a smattering of facts about bugs. Kirkus

Cricket in the Thicket is an entertaining and informative collection of poems.  Poems are written from a child-like perspective, using vocabulary and sound words they will enjoy.  The poems have a smooth rhythm and flow.  Often a whimsical approach is taken when describing the insects, such as the idea of hugging a ladybug or a cricket being an alarm. Books 4 Learning

See more books by Carol Murray here. 

Carol describes her book: A nonfiction picture book of poetry about fascinating insects with accompanying facts, notes, and illustrations by the Caldecott-winning Melissa Sweet.

Pray tell us, Mr. Mantis,

Do you pray or simply prey?

Do you scout about for victims

Or fold your hands all day?

In addition to the playful rhyming poems, the supplementary text highlights surprising facts about bugs of all kinds - from familiar ants to exotic dragonflies, cringe-worthy ticks and magnificent fireflies. Melissa Sweet's collage-inspired mixed-media illustrations beautifully render these creatures and complement the poems' whimsical tones. This is an enchanting and informative look at a perennial topic of interest for kids - cool bugs!

Carol Murray loves ladybugs, Melissa Sweet loves stick insects and I love the idea (I have never seen one of course) of fireflies.

We glitter and glimmer
and put on a show
in honor of Earth - 
come and share in our glow!

Woven in, around and under the title text Melissa Sweet places many of the bugs highlighted in the narrative.  She gives them personality with a plus! The varnished red on cricket and green on thicket add to the pizzazz of her design.  ... These illustrations rendered in watercolor and mixed media are as fascinating as the subjects they feature.  On the title page a grasshopper is leaping over an array of flowers beneath the text.  On the dedication page a close-up of a leaf shows a grasshopper munching out a large hole.  He is looking right at the reader through the gap in the leaf. For each poem a distinctive, individualistic image has been created, many of them bringing the insect world closer to readers. ...  Her unique details will have you stopping at every page turn; a cricket poised on the edge of a red tennis shoe, ants crawling over a single stalk as a night scene unfolds, inchworms and measuring tape for a garden plot, the B in buzz becoming bumblebee wings, six circles showing a roly-poly rolling...up and unrolling and June bugs blasting against a light bulb.  ... Librarian's Quest

How to Write a Poem by Kwane Alexander and Deanna Nikaido illustrated by Melissa Sweet

 

"Close your eyes, open the window of your mind and climb out, 
like a seedling reaching for tomorrow."

Every word of this book is liquid gold - plan to read this aloud before your group of students begin their writing - poetry or prose.

Kwame says: "A poem is a small but mighty thing. It has the power to reach inside, to teach us, to ignite our imaginations. Now more than ever, children need a surefire way to channel their emotions, build their confidence and discover the world and their place in it. Poetry, with its simplicity, with its accessibility and rhythm, can do all these things instantaneously."

Melissa Sweet says: "This collage art was made with vintage and handmade papers, paint, pencils, printed letterforms, and beach pebbles."

I want to say run into your school library and ask/demand that the Teacher-Librarian buys this book but in reality here in Australia this wonderful book is very expensive. I have friends who work in NSW schools who have such small library budgets - so this book is not one they could ever consider acquiring. I have looked at a range of online and store front sellers and the price of this book varies between $30 and $44. I guess very few school libraries will be able to purchase this book but perhaps you will find it in a local library or you could view the ebook version. 

Marvelously crafted to inspire blooming writers. Kirkus Star review

Here are other books about writing poetry:

This is a poem that heals fish

Daniel finds a poem

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 39 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night, An American Story, The Door of No Return, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Companion volume:

Look for these too all illustrated by Melissa Sweet:

Some Writer!

Carmine a little more red

The Right Word