{"id":1618,"date":"2022-06-07T03:07:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T07:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/press-kit\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T10:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T14:21:46","slug":"press-kit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/press-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Everyone has a story to tell.<\/p>\nRising Stars Interview<\/a> Nov 16, 2020<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Melissa H. Mwai is a children’s author and illustrator. She’s written six nonfiction books including National Geographic Kids Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture<\/a> (Nat Geo Kids, Dec ’26), I Can Make a Friend<\/a> (Paw Prints, ’25) and A Puerto Rican Childhood<\/a> (DK, ’24). Melissa has published poetry and illustrations in Gnomes and Ungnomes: Poems of Hidden Creatures<\/a> <\/strong>(Writers’ Loft Press, ’23). As a neurodiverse Afro-Latina herself, Melissa is thrilled that her books help ethnically and neurodiverse kids learn more deeply about their world. She is represented by\u00a0Jacqui Lipton<\/a>\u00a0at Raven Quill Literary Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A New York native, Melissa now lives in Maryland with her spouse, two kids, and rabbit named Sailor. Melissa and Sailor hang out while she creates new things for kids. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Name Pronunciation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mwai rhymes with WHY. My last name is from Kenya.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Interviews & Articles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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New Book Network (NBN) Interview<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The Mid-Career GPS Podcast Interview (Episode 288)<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Harnessing the History of the Harlem Renaissance<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The Mysterious World of Work-for-Hire Early Readers<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Research Gems (Story Storm 2024)<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Legit Kidlit Draw-Off (Ep 139)<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
KidLit 411 Interview<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Rising Stars Interview<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bio Melissa H. Mwai is a children’s author and illustrator. She’s written six nonfiction books including National Geographic Kids Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture (Nat Geo Kids, Dec ’26), I Can Make a Friend (Paw Prints, ’25) and A Puerto Rican Childhood (DK, ’24). Melissa has published poetry and illustrations in Gnomes and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1618","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1627,"url":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":0},"title":"My Books","author":"Melissa Mwai","date":"June 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My children's books are at Bookshop.org, Amazon, or major shops. Request them from a local bookstore or library! PREORDER MY NEW RELEASE About National Geographic Kids Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture National Geographic Kids Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture is an exciting new edition to NGK\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AACE-Cover.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2229,"url":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/for-teachers\/school-visits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":1},"title":"School Visits","author":"Melissa Mwai","date":"November 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Passionate about student learning Sharing a love of reading, writing, and creating art with school-aged kids! For World Read Aloud Day (#WRAD) virtual visits fill out this form to schedule a free ~15min visit with me! In-Person Class Visits** 45-min in-person class visit is $225. Includes: a read-aloud, writing activity,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Website banner with the name Melissa H. Mwai. The subtitle reads Children's Author, Artist, Educator. Illustrations with stylized rainbow arches ending with pen nibs.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Author-Website-Banner-2026-2.png?fit=1200%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Author-Website-Banner-2026-2.png?fit=1200%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Author-Website-Banner-2026-2.png?fit=1200%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Author-Website-Banner-2026-2.png?fit=1200%2C400&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Author-Website-Banner-2026-2.png?fit=1200%2C400&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1698,"url":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/for-kids\/comics-for-kids\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":2},"title":"Comics for Kids","author":"Melissa Mwai","date":"June 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I draw comics. Comics can be about anything. They are stories in bite-sized panels. Dig in or draw some yourself!","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/melissamwai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/untitled_artwork-3-2.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1618"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2556,"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1618\/revisions\/2556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melissamwai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}