Melia and Jo

By Billy Aronson and Jennifer Oxley
Published August 21, 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

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
(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.