Melissa Johns Melissa Johns i(18132152 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 y separately published work icon Harriet's Hungry Worms Samantha Smith , Melissa Johns (illustrator), Gosford : Exisle Publishing , 2023 26052101 2023 single work picture book children's 'Harriet's nine-hundred-and-eighty-three hungry worms live in a shady corner of her backyard in a big, green box. They spend their days munching on anything from Aunt Tilda's herbal teabags to the sports pages of Uncle Sam's paper. Harriet watches and waits, eventually deciding the worms are 'so BORING'. Until one day, the worms leave Harriet a big surprise, worm wee! Packed with worm facts, Harriet's Hungry Worms is the ideal companion for worm warriors and curious composters keen to roll their sleeves up and put their kitchen food scraps to good use. Before they know it, young readers will be equipped with the basic information they need to start putting their own kitchen food scraps to good use!' (Publication summary) 
1 y separately published work icon Growing Pains Alison McLennan , Melissa Johns (illustrator), Wollombi : EK Books , 2021 20970163 2021 single work picture book children's

'When Finn’s family plant a tree in the back yard, he feels responsible for it and worries the tree is cold, hungry or lonely. He tries to share his breakfast with the tree, offers it his scarf, and spends the afternoon keeping it company. Just after going to bed, his nightlight goes out and Finn is plunged into darkness. It occurs to him that his tree is outside in the dark, every night!

'When he sees the tree is standing tall and brave in the moonlight and doesn’t seem afraid, Finn is inspired to be brave as well. Finn’s kindness and curiosity end up helping him to overcome his fear of the dark.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon Tabitha and the Raincloud Devon Sillett , Melissa Johns (illustrator), Gosford : EK Books , 2020 18132173 2020 single work picture book children's

'Tabitha and the Raincloud is about those yucky days when things seem to go wrong from the moment you wake up. When Tabitha wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, she finds a big raincloud next to her taking up most of the space. She tells it to go away, but it won't budge. Things get worse. At breakfast, the cloud rains all over her scrambled eggs. At school, she tries to draw a giraffe, but the raincloud distracts her and her art teacher compliments her on her dinosaur Aaagh By lunchtime, Tabitha is so stormy that none of her friends want to sit next to her. Tabitha realises she needs to change her attitude. It's not the raincloud that's making her day unpleasant, but how she's choosing to react to it. So, Tabitha fetches her umbrella, raincoat and boots from her locker and starts dancing in the rain. It's not long before her friends join her and they're all having fun together This is a story of resilience, choices, optimism and perseverance. It's a gentle reminder that we all have raincloudy days but we'll get through them. And sometimes, we can bring the sunshine out a little bit faster if we remember to dance in the rain.'   (Publication summary)

X