Melinda Long is the author of WHEN PAPA SNORES and HICCUP SNICKUP, both published through Simon and Schuster. Her third book, HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is published through Harcourt Brace. It was chosen by Children’s Book of the Month Club as a main selection for September 2003, and has also been translated into more than thirteen languages. It is the winner of many awards and a number one, New York Times Bestseller. It is also making its way around the country in the form of a musical, written by Mark Friedman and Janet Vogt. Their musical, JINGLE AARGH THE WAY, is also based on Melinda’s work.

Melinda’s second pirate book is PIRATES DON’T CHANGE DIAPERS, also illustrated by David Shannon and is a Booksense, Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times Best Seller. Recently, Harcourt also released the PIRATES ACTIVITY BOOK.

In October, 2010, Sterling Publishing released THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, written by Melinda and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss also available in board book format.

Her newest book is a chapter book, ART SMART, SCIENCE DETECTIVE: THE CASE OF THE SLIDING SPACESHIP… December, 2018.

Melinda, a long-time pirate fan, lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband, Thom, and her three spoiled dogs. She has two adult children, Cathy and Bryan. She graduated from Furman University and was a teacher for 23 years. Melinda loves acting, yoga, reading, and of course, writing. She really enjoys going to schools to talk to kids about reading and writing because she likes kids as much as she likes pirates.