Melissa Bailey is an award-winning illustrator, author, and smiley person. (Seriously. She smiles all the time.) She adores children’s books, reading approximately 600 a year. (Yes. She counted.) 

Melissa is the author-illustrator of two books: Pug Is Happy (2018) and Imara’s Tiara (2020, cowritten with Susan R. Stoltz), both published by Pygmy Giraffe Publishing. She has illustrated over 50 books, including Steve the Dung Beetle (which won the 2019 Moonbeam Awards silver medal for Best Illustrator). 

A member of SCBWI since 2013, she volunteers as a self-publishing advisor in her region. When she’s not in her studio splashing paint or typing away at her keyboard, she’s probably outside walking her poodles, who demand at least 2 walks a day. If it’s too dark for walks, she might be cooking (and eating), binging old TV shows, drawing, or avoiding doing the dishes. (If only poodles could be trained to wash dishes…) 

You can contact Melissa via her website (mbaileyart.com) or follow her on Instagram (@mbaileyart). She’d love to hear from you!