Works by
Melinda Long
(Writer)

When Papa Snores (2000) with Holly Meade, Illustrator
SNOOOOGA...
SNOOOOGA...
SNOOM

ERRGHA...
ERRGHA...
ARGHH

Trying to get some shut-eye is no easy task when the lamp is rattling, the dishes are clattering, and shoes are tumbling down the stairs.

Who is making all that racket?

It's Papa and Nana, fast asleep, snoring to beat the band. So much noise! But Papa and Nana aren't the noisiest nappers in the house....

Can you guess who is?  Ages 4-8

Hiccup Snickup (2001) with Thor Wickstrom, Illustrator
How do you cure the hiccups? Do you drink water from the wrong side of the glass? Do you hold your breath while eating an apple, or do you put a paper bag over your head and stand upside down? What if nothing you do seems to work and the hiccups have gotten completely out of control?

Hiccup Snickup is the story of one little girl's quest to cure the hiccups. The whole family offers advice, with hilarious results. But it is only when Grandma explains an old family hiccup antidote, and the entire family works together, that those pesky hiccups finally go away -- or do they?

Madcap illustrations by Thor Wickstrom perfectly complement this rollicking tale, making it just right for reading aloud. Ages 4-8

How I Became a Pirate (2003) with David Shannon, Illustrator -- Winner Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature
When Braid Beard's pirate crew invites Jeremy Jacob to join their voyage, he jumps right on board. Buried treasure, sea chanteys, pirate talk--who wouldn't go along? Soon Jeremy Jacob knows all about being a pirate. He throws his food across the table and his manners to the wind. He hollers like thunder and laughs off bedtime. It's the heave-ho, blow-the-man-down, very best time of his life. Until he finds out what pirates don't do--no reading bedtime stories, no tucking kids in. . . . Maybe being a pirate isn't so great after all.
Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator David Shannon teams up with witty storyteller Melinda Long for a hilarious look at the finer points of pirate life. (Baby-Preschool)

Pirates Don't Change Diapers (2007) with David Shannon, Illustrator
When the pirate crew turns up at Jeremy Jacob's house and accidentally wakes his baby sister, that wee scallywag howls louder than a storm on the high seas. Sure, there's buried treasure to be found, but nobody's digging up anything until Bonney Anne quits her caterwauling. So, quicker than you can say "scurvy dog," Braid Beard and his swashbuckling pirates become . . . babysitters? Blimey!

This hilarious companion to How I Became a Pirate reveals that minding the nursery can be even more terrifying than walking the plank--especially if you're a pirate. (Ages 4 to 8)