Melissa Sweet grew up in a suburban neighborhood that had lots of kids, kick-the-can games on summer nights, and Percy's candy store right nearby. Later she received her Associate’s Degree from Endicott Junior College in Beverly, Massachusetts, and studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute. Sweet began illustrating children's books in 1986 and has illustrated more than 60 books. A SPLASH OF RED: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, written by Jen Bryant, won the 2014 ALA Schneider Family Book Award for Children and was a 2014 ALA Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book.

 

Her work can also be seen in magazines, on posters, children's toys and food packaging. Sweet’s signature style of whimsical watercolors is often enhanced by collage art when she finds objects and details that are appropriate to the story.

 

Sweet lives with her husband and step-daughter in a small coastal Maine village near a working harbor. Above her drafting table there’s a quote from the poet Mary Oliver: “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” 

Melissa Sweet