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Melia and Jo: A Picture Book About Friendship, the Arts, and the Magic of STEAM for Children
Melia and Jo will be to STEAM what Rosie Revere is to STEM.
Melia is scientific and loves to create things in her backyard laboratory, but something is missing. Her inventions just aren’t quite right. Enter Jo, her new friend with an artistic spirit. When you add the arts to sciences, something magical happens! This whimsically illustrated picture book is the perfect introduction to the benefits of STEAM-focused curriculum.
Melia is scientific and loves to create things in her backyard laboratory, but something is missing. Her inventions just aren’t quite right. Enter Jo, her new friend with an artistic spirit. When you add the arts to sciences, something magical happens! This whimsically illustrated picture book is the perfect introduction to the benefits of STEAM-focused curriculum.
48 pages, Hardcover
Published August 21, 2018
About the author
Billy Aronson
49 books11 followersBilly Aronson's work in the theater includes the original concept/additional lyrics for the Broadway musical Rent. His plays have been published in six volumes of Best American Short Plays, and collected in Funny Shorts. TV writing credits include The Wonder Pets, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. With the artist Jennifer Oxley he created the PBS Kids show Peg + Cat, which has won Emmy Awards for music, design, writing, acting, and best animated preschool show. With his wife, Lisa Vogel, he created their animated offspring Jake and Anna.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 4, 2019
7/1/2019 ~ I wanted to like this book more, because I LOVE the cover and the premise. But...The story started well, with Melia as a believable girl engineer. I found the second half of the book to simply be the benefits of the two girls becoming friends (telling the lessons, rather than showing them through plot events.) Also, I never quite felt the personality of the girls in their interactions. I did appreciate the way the book highlighted a friendship between two very different people.
STEAM Focus; I enjoyed the homage to Josephine Baker in Jo's character.
STEAM Focus; I enjoyed the homage to Josephine Baker in Jo's character.
October 9, 2018
Why we chose this book:
Always one for the women-in-science genre, I saw this and wanted to check it out. A review copy was provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Mom's Review (V)
A creative dancer and a backyard inventor overcome their differences to see that they are better together.
The purpose of Melia and Jo is clear: to show that art and science can be combined and that girls belong in all fields. The quality of the story, however, is not sacrificed on the altar of message. The girls do not get along at first. Jo fiddles with all of Melia's inventions without asking, but after she leaves, Melia sees that Jo's misunderstandings actually lead to better uses of her creations. Melia invites Jo to work with her, but Jo has no interest until she gets stuck in a tree. One of Melia's inventions facilitates Jo's escape, and the two are inseparable by the end of the story. In addition to the main messages, the underlying idea of giving new acquaintances a second chance is also a good springboard for conversations about friendship. T recently began a preschool program, so we have been talking about friendships and getting to know different children, and I find it helpful (and T likes it too) to reference characters from books he likes.
I'm sure that by now we all agree on the value of girls being represented as scientists, independent thinkers, and wearers of colors other than pink. The value of this particular book lies in the fact that it depicts not only the new order of female characters, but also the traditional: one girl wears pearls and a pink tutu and develops new dances and songs in her backyard while the other girl wears red boots and a cape, an aviator hat, and follows the scientific process in her backyard. As they team up, the results show that one does not have to narrowly define oneself. A person could enjoy the arts or the sciences or both while wearing pink or blue or a dress or boots. And that is the beauty of Melia and Jo.
An addition to the growing genre of STE(A)M girl-books, Melia and Jo is worth reading.
Son's Review (T)
(Age: 3 and 1/2 years)
Son: On the back of it, it shows how to make the airplane!
Mom, looking at the directions for making Melia and Jo's airplane: That's sooooo cool!
Mom: Were Melia and Jo friends at the beginning? What did they do that wasn't friendly?
Son: No. Sticking a licorice-eating candy into a robot.
Mom: How did they get to be friends? ... Like what?
Son: By doing good stuff....like doing art.
Mom: And why do you think that they are such good friend?
Son: Because they did art and art can make you very good friends.
Mom: It seems like they were different in some ways. What were some ways they were different?
Son: Because one girl was wearing a hat and one girl wasn't wearing a hat.
Mom: Does this remind you of your friends at all?
Son: No.
Mom: Would you want to be friends with Melia or Jo or both? Why?
Son: Both of them because they are both really nice.
Mom: What would you do with them?
Son: I would do crafts with them.
Mom: If you could pick one page to read again and again, what would it be?
Son: I would pick the one where they were doing good stuff, where they held the head on with the licorice stick.
Mom: How do they solve their problems in this book?
Son: With words.
Mom: What would you say to them if you could meet them? Would you say anything else?
Son: I would say, "Hi." Just hi because hi is a really nice word.
Mom: What can we learn from this book?
Son: That it's a good thing to be friends.
Always one for the women-in-science genre, I saw this and wanted to check it out. A review copy was provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Mom's Review (V)
A creative dancer and a backyard inventor overcome their differences to see that they are better together.
The purpose of Melia and Jo is clear: to show that art and science can be combined and that girls belong in all fields. The quality of the story, however, is not sacrificed on the altar of message. The girls do not get along at first. Jo fiddles with all of Melia's inventions without asking, but after she leaves, Melia sees that Jo's misunderstandings actually lead to better uses of her creations. Melia invites Jo to work with her, but Jo has no interest until she gets stuck in a tree. One of Melia's inventions facilitates Jo's escape, and the two are inseparable by the end of the story. In addition to the main messages, the underlying idea of giving new acquaintances a second chance is also a good springboard for conversations about friendship. T recently began a preschool program, so we have been talking about friendships and getting to know different children, and I find it helpful (and T likes it too) to reference characters from books he likes.
I'm sure that by now we all agree on the value of girls being represented as scientists, independent thinkers, and wearers of colors other than pink. The value of this particular book lies in the fact that it depicts not only the new order of female characters, but also the traditional: one girl wears pearls and a pink tutu and develops new dances and songs in her backyard while the other girl wears red boots and a cape, an aviator hat, and follows the scientific process in her backyard. As they team up, the results show that one does not have to narrowly define oneself. A person could enjoy the arts or the sciences or both while wearing pink or blue or a dress or boots. And that is the beauty of Melia and Jo.
An addition to the growing genre of STE(A)M girl-books, Melia and Jo is worth reading.
Son's Review (T)
(Age: 3 and 1/2 years)
Son: On the back of it, it shows how to make the airplane!
Mom, looking at the directions for making Melia and Jo's airplane: That's sooooo cool!
Mom: Were Melia and Jo friends at the beginning? What did they do that wasn't friendly?
Son: No. Sticking a licorice-eating candy into a robot.
Mom: How did they get to be friends? ... Like what?
Son: By doing good stuff....like doing art.
Mom: And why do you think that they are such good friend?
Son: Because they did art and art can make you very good friends.
Mom: It seems like they were different in some ways. What were some ways they were different?
Son: Because one girl was wearing a hat and one girl wasn't wearing a hat.
Mom: Does this remind you of your friends at all?
Son: No.
Mom: Would you want to be friends with Melia or Jo or both? Why?
Son: Both of them because they are both really nice.
Mom: What would you do with them?
Son: I would do crafts with them.
Mom: If you could pick one page to read again and again, what would it be?
Son: I would pick the one where they were doing good stuff, where they held the head on with the licorice stick.
Mom: How do they solve their problems in this book?
Son: With words.
Mom: What would you say to them if you could meet them? Would you say anything else?
Son: I would say, "Hi." Just hi because hi is a really nice word.
Mom: What can we learn from this book?
Son: That it's a good thing to be friends.
December 20, 2018
From the creators of Peg + Cat comes a new duo full of STEAM! Melia is an inventor using the principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to create new inventions, but her inventions don’t always work the way she hopes they do, but then in comes Jo. Jo is her new next door neighbor who is always full of Artistic flair. When Jo creates new uses and artistic solutions to some of Melia’s inventions, Melia is somewhat put out and discouraged by Jo’s observations. However, they soon come to accept each other’s strengths and realize that by working together they can make Melia’s inventions and Jo’s art better.
A clever friendship story about how working together and using our skills can make our world better. The story is engaging and the art pops as fans of Peg + Cat will recognize Oxley’s artistic style. While not a full show, Melia and Jo’s adventures can be seen on the Curious World App available on mobile app stores. This book has strong appeal for preschool to early elementary readers and works well as a read aloud for class groups and storytime. New readers will also be engaged on their own with this story and its book extras which include how to build the airplane from the story and a page on what STEAM is and how to determine what your STEAM skills are. I would recommend this book for purchase by any school or public library.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
A clever friendship story about how working together and using our skills can make our world better. The story is engaging and the art pops as fans of Peg + Cat will recognize Oxley’s artistic style. While not a full show, Melia and Jo’s adventures can be seen on the Curious World App available on mobile app stores. This book has strong appeal for preschool to early elementary readers and works well as a read aloud for class groups and storytime. New readers will also be engaged on their own with this story and its book extras which include how to build the airplane from the story and a page on what STEAM is and how to determine what your STEAM skills are. I would recommend this book for purchase by any school or public library.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
February 19, 2019
Melia and Jo by Billy Aronson and Jennifer Oxley PICTURE BOOK, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $18. 132891626X
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Melia is an inventor. She works and works on her inventions but none seem to function as she would like. Jo is Melia's new neighbor. Jo is a singer and a dancer who doesn't respect Melia's space, nor does she see the inventions the same way Melia does. But wait! When creative Jo and logical Melia work together, they make a friendship (and a lot of other great things)!
Aronson and Oxley have presented a great picturebook which demonstrates why we need an A (Arts) in STEM - because creativity is so important! The illustrations are delightful, the story is spot on. I loved the smart resourceful girls, (and smart resourceful girls will love this book)
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Melia is an inventor. She works and works on her inventions but none seem to function as she would like. Jo is Melia's new neighbor. Jo is a singer and a dancer who doesn't respect Melia's space, nor does she see the inventions the same way Melia does. But wait! When creative Jo and logical Melia work together, they make a friendship (and a lot of other great things)!
Aronson and Oxley have presented a great picturebook which demonstrates why we need an A (Arts) in STEM - because creativity is so important! The illustrations are delightful, the story is spot on. I loved the smart resourceful girls, (and smart resourceful girls will love this book)
Lisa Librarian
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
March 7, 2023
Melia and Jo is about 2 young girls who are very different from each other. Melia is a creative scientist who makes inventions, while Jo shows her creativity through dancing and singing. After some frustrations because they work and learn very differently from each other, they realize when they work as a team, they can create something even greater!
I read this to my 2nd grade class and I would definitely use it again. It shares a great story that even if we are very different from someone we can still be friends or work as a team. I thought my 2nd graders really connected and related to the story. I also appreciated the diversity of a young girl being the scientist - where we usually see this as a male character.
I read this to my 2nd grade class and I would definitely use it again. It shares a great story that even if we are very different from someone we can still be friends or work as a team. I thought my 2nd graders really connected and related to the story. I also appreciated the diversity of a young girl being the scientist - where we usually see this as a male character.
July 16, 2023
Before reading this book, I'd never heard of a STEAM-based curriculum for education.
STEM? That I've heard of. But including the ARTS as well? What a super-smart idea!
This picture book about Melia and Jo brings home this idea, using fiction as fiction can be used, helping people of all ages to understand what's important. What's true.
Although the concepts are taken seriously, and the characters of Melia and Jo are very lively, guess what? A wonderful sense of humor pervades the text by Billy Aronson and the illustrations by Jennifer Oxley.
My favorite quote from this book goes:
"Sorry I stuck my licorice stick in y6our robot's neck without asking," said Jo."
FIVE STARS for this delicious read.
STEM? That I've heard of. But including the ARTS as well? What a super-smart idea!
This picture book about Melia and Jo brings home this idea, using fiction as fiction can be used, helping people of all ages to understand what's important. What's true.
Although the concepts are taken seriously, and the characters of Melia and Jo are very lively, guess what? A wonderful sense of humor pervades the text by Billy Aronson and the illustrations by Jennifer Oxley.
My favorite quote from this book goes:
"Sorry I stuck my licorice stick in y6our robot's neck without asking," said Jo."
FIVE STARS for this delicious read.
March 30, 2019
This is a STEAM book! An actual girls in STEAM book. This book highlights how girls can invent things and how differences can actually be the connective tissue that brings us together. Jo’s artistic approach allowed Melia to view her inventions differently. Art and Science–are you sensing a theme here? And I love it!
The illustrations were well done and there was a nice flow to the story. The writer including diversity among the girls further emphasizes that differences are okay. I found the STEAM pages at the end a nice touch and a great way to remind young girls that they belong in STEAM. Melia and Jo are my new STEAM Dream Team!
The illustrations were well done and there was a nice flow to the story. The writer including diversity among the girls further emphasizes that differences are okay. I found the STEAM pages at the end a nice touch and a great way to remind young girls that they belong in STEAM. Melia and Jo are my new STEAM Dream Team!
August 30, 2018
Melia is a serious inventor. Jo is an enthusiastic dancer. While one is ready to be friends right away, the other isn't so sure. But soon enough, the two together become nothing short of a remarkable pair! Melia's contraptions are enhanced by Jo's moves through them and Jo's leaps are lit up by Melia's mega moving pieces. This book is so much fun -- with an interactive reader's craft to boot!
Read
June 27, 2019Summary: Melia likes to create. Jo likes to dance. Together, Melia and Jo form the most unlikely of friendships. Can they set their differences aside to concoct an amazing contraption? This story will surely get you thinking of your STEAM skills!
APA Citation:
Aronson, B. & Oxley, J. (2018). Melia and Jo. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
APA Citation:
Aronson, B. & Oxley, J. (2018). Melia and Jo. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
December 25, 2018
The illustrations are delightful, the story is spot on. I loved the smart resourceful girls, (and smart resourceful girls will love this book) For my full review, visit http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com CHECK IT OUT!
May 2, 2019
I liked that this book encouraged the arts as well as STEM, and that it is referred to as STEAM now, as the arts are just as important as the rest.
Cute illustrations and story, well paced. I would absolutely recommend it.
Cute illustrations and story, well paced. I would absolutely recommend it.
August 31, 2019
Together, Melia the scientist and Jo the artist make a great pair of STEAM inventors, although their relationship gets off to a rocky start. The have such different styles and interests, but that’s what makes their relationship so strong.
A bit cheesy.
A bit cheesy.
February 15, 2020
This book shows two people that are the complete opposite, one science girl and one art girl and with team work they help each other to make great things. In the back of the book it even shows how to make a project that they made together in the book.
July 27, 2020
Ah yes, the importance of embracing friends with different strengths! Art and science mesh together to make a wonderful, unlikely friendship in this title, and if you're into the PBS Kids show Peg + Cat (like I am, shhh), you'll also love the illustrations from Peg + Cat co-creator Jennifer Oxley.
Read
September 8, 2021An art and science-focused story about teamwork. Melia and Jo have echoes of Amelia Earhart and Josephine Baker: one is a methodical, intense inventor and the other is a singing, dancing, agent of chaos. Their cooperation is admirable, and it's a pleasure to watch them work and play.
January 4, 2018
STEM meets Arts and equals STEAM when two girls meet…one os super artsy and the other very science oriented. Together they are the STEAM dream team.
July 17, 2018
STEAM themed book shows how collaborating with others brings fresh and new perspectives to innovation. Pair with Rosie Revere and The Most Magnificent Thing.
August 12, 2018
STEM girl and Arts girl combine their talents. STEAM.
August 17, 2018
STEAM theme.
August 29, 2018
Two neighbors, one who loves science and one who loves art, realize their interests can combine in unique and awesome ways.
September 7, 2018
Melia and Jo are unlikely friends with very different tastes. But their differences complement each other.
September 10, 2018
Thrilled at the combination of a frilly girl with a non-frilly one. Refreshing.
September 16, 2018
Well this was cute! Science meets art and creates STEAM. :)
September 18, 2018
Writing is a little clunky, but I like the idea behind it - that science and creativity go hand-in-hand AND that two heads are better than one.
September 22, 2018
Felt a little forced, but good message about the value of both science and art.
September 30, 2018
Sweet and just funny enough to not be syrupy.
October 10, 2018
Nice friendship story about how different personalities/approaches, etc. can work together in STEAM. Recommended for ages 5-8.
November 3, 2018
Two next door neighbor's who have nothing in common discovery that one's strength in art and one's strenght in science can work together to make great inventions. Elementary and up.
February 1, 2019
A good book for encouraging girls to collaborate and work together in sciences. STEM meets the Arts to form STEAM.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews