Kate Messner

Follow to get new release updates and improved recommendations

About Kate Messner

Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Her titles include award-winning picture books like Over and Under the Rainforest, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, The Next President, and How to Read a Story; novels that tackle real-world issues like Chirp, Breakout, All the Answers, and The Seventh Wish; high-interest nonfiction like Tracking Pythons and the History Smashers series; the Fergus and Zeke easy readers; and the popular Ranger in Time chapter books about a time-traveling search and rescue dog.

Kate’s titles are frequently selected for One School, One Book and One School/One Author programs and other community-wide reads. Her books have been New York Times Notable, Junior Library Guild, IndieBound, and Bank Street College of Education Best Books selections. Her novel The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. won the E.B. White Read Aloud Medal, and her science picture books have been finalists for the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences/Subaru SB&F prize for excellence in science writing. In 2020, Kate was honored with New York’s Knickerbocker Award for creating a superior body of work supporting curriculum and educational goals.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Kate was a TV news reporter as well as a National Board Certified educator. She grew up in Medina, NY and graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Kate spent seven years working as a television news producer and reporter in Syracuse, NY and Burlington, VT before going back to school to earn a master’s degree in education for secondary-level English Language Arts. She taught middle school language arts for fifteen years before leaving the classroom to write full time but still spends much of her time in schools, working with kids as a visiting author.

Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and is trying to summit all 46 Adirondack High Peaks in between book deadlines. Learn more at her website: www.katemessner.com and follow her on Twitter @katemessner.

Kenard Pak

Gordon Korman

Lauren Tarshis

Dianna Hutts Aston

Asia Citro

Kate DiCamillo

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.

Learn more at Author Central

1 11 1

$3.99

Kindle Edition
$5.54

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$8.13

Kindle Edition
$1.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$9.99

Kindle Edition
$7.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$10.99

Kindle Edition

Author Updates

Titles By Kate Messner

All Formats Kindle Edition Audible Audiobook Paperback Hardcover See more

Rescue on the Oregon Trail (Ranger in Time #1) Jan 6, 2015

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 710 )

$3.99

Meet Ranger! He's a time-traveling golden retriever who has a nose for trouble . . . and always saves the day!

Ranger has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but can't officially pass the test because he's always getting distracted by squirrels during exercises. One day, he finds a mysterious first aid kit in the garden and is transported to the year 1850, where he meets a young boy named Sam Abbott. Sam's family is migrating west on the Oregon Trail, and soon after Ranger arrives he helps the boy save his little sister. Ranger thinks his job is done, but the Oregon Trail can be dangerous, and the Abbotts need Ranger's help more than they realize!

Other Formats: Library Binding , Paperback

Breakout Jun 5, 2018

by Kate Messner

( 323 )

$5.54

Told in letters, poems, text messages, news stories, and comics--a series of documents Nora collects for the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project--Breakout is a thrilling story that will leave readers thinking about who's really welcome in the places we call home.

Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek--two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town's maximum security prison, everything changes. Doors are locked, helicopters fly over the woods, and police patrol the school grounds. Worst of all, everyone is on edge, and fear brings out the worst in some people Nora has known her whole life. Even if the inmates are caught, she worries that home might never feel the same.

A Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt: (Nature Book for Kids, Gardening and Vegetable Planting, Outdoor Nature Book) Mar 3, 2015

by Kate Messner, Christopher Silas Neal

( 1,948 )

$3.99

In this exuberant and lyrical follow-up to the award-winning Over and Under the Snow, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves . . . and down in the dirt. Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year! Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world—earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow—populated by all the animals that make a garden their home. Plus, this is the fixed-format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Over and Under the Pond: (Environment and Ecology Books for Kids, Nature Books, Children's Oceanography Books, Animal Books for Kids) Mar 7, 2017

by Kate Messner, Christopher Silas Neal

( 868 )

$8.13

In this gorgeous companion to the acclaimed Over and Under the Snow and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal bring to life a secret underwater world. In this book, readers will discover the plants and animals that make up the rich, interconnected ecosystem of a mountain pond. Over the pond, the water is a mirror, reflecting the sky. But under the pond is a hidden world of minnows darting, beavers diving, tadpoles growing. These and many other secrets are waiting to be discovered...over and under the pond.

Other Formats: Hardcover

Escape from the Twin Towers (Ranger in Time #11) Feb 4, 2020

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 306 )

$3.99

Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, travels to New York City on the morning of the 9/11 attacks.

COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER!

Ranger has never needed his search-and-rescue training more than when he arrives at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. There he meets Risha Scott and her friend Max who have come to work with Risha's mother for a school project. But when the unthinkable happens and the building is evacuated, Risha is separated from her mom. Can Ranger lead Risha to safety and help reunite her family?

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

How to Read a Story: (Illustrated Children's Book, Picture Book for Kids, Read Aloud Kindergarten Books) May 5, 2015

by Kate Messner, Mark Siegel

( 489 )

$1.99

Step One: Find a story. (A good one.)
Step Two: Find a reading buddy. (Someone nice.)
Step Three: Find a reading spot. (Couches are cozy.)
Now: Begin.
Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel chronicle the process of becoming a reader: from pulling a book off the shelf and finding someone with whom to share a story, to reading aloud, predicting what will happen, and—finally—coming to The End. This picture book playfully and movingly illustrates the idea that the reader who discovers the love of reading finds, at the end, the beginning. Plus, this is a fixed-format version of the book, which looks nearly identical to the print version.

Other Formats: Hardcover

D-Day: Battle on the Beach (Ranger #7) (Ranger in Time) Jan 30, 2018

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 226 )

$3.99

In this adventure, Ranger heads to Normandy on the morning of the D-Day invasion and finds himself in the middle of one of the fiercest battles of World War II. Ranger meets Leo, a Jewish boy who is hiding with a local farmer, and Walt, a young African-American soldier fighting to free France from the Nazis. Walt is in the 320th Balloon Battalion, so it's his job to help operate the enormous barrage balloons that fly over the American troops, shielding them from enemy planes. It's pure chaos, with thundering warplanes, falling bombs, and exploding land mines. Will Ranger, Leo, and Walt survive?

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

How to Write a Story: (Read-Aloud Book, Learn to Read and Write) Jul 7, 2020

by Kate Messner, Mark Siegel

( 470 )

$9.99

The inspiring sequel to the 2015 Parent's Choice Winner, How to Read a Story!

Step 1: Choose an idea for your story. A good one.
Step 2: Decide on a setting. Don't be afraid to mix things up.
Step 3: Create a heroine—or a hero.
Now: Begin.

Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel playfully chronicle the process of becoming a writer in this fun follow-up to How to Read a Story, guiding young storytellers through the joys and challenges of the writing process. From choosing an idea, to creating a problem for their character to resolve, to coming to The End, this empowering picture book breaks down the writing process in a dynamic and accessible way, encouraging kids to explore their own creativity—and share their stories with others!

• Perfect for educators, librarians, and parents who are helping children develop early writing and reading skills
• Great read-aloud book for preschool- and kindergarten-aged children interested in learning to read
• Helps teach Common Core Curriculum skills

Young readers who love We Are in a Book!, How Rocket Learned to Read, and Also an Octopus will love the reading and writing lessons and inspiration in How to Write a Story.

• Read-aloud books for kids ages 3–5
• Learning to write books for kids
• Kindergarten, pre-K creativity books

Kate Messner is an award-winning author whose many books for kids have been selected as Best Books by the New York Times, Junior Library Guild, Indie Bound, and Bank Street College of Education. She lives on Lake Champlain with her family.

Mark Siegel is the author of many graphic novels and children's picture books, including the 5 Worlds series, as well as the illustrator of How to Read a Story and the Robert F. Sibert Honor Book To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel. He lives in New York.

Other Formats: Hardcover

History Smashers: Plagues and Pandemics Oct 5, 2021

by Kate Messner, Falynn Koch

( 1 )

$7.99

Myths! Lies! Secrets! Uncover the hidden truth about history's pandemics, from the Black Death to COVID-19. Perfect for fans of I Survived! and Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.

During the Black Death in the 14th century, plague doctors wore creepy beaked masks filled with herbs. RIGHT?
WRONG! Those masks were from a plague outbreak centuries later--and most doctors never wore anything like that at all!

With a mix of sidebars, illustrations, photos, and graphic panels, acclaimed author Kate Messner delivers the whole truth about diseases like the bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, influenza, and COVID-19.

Discover the nonfiction series that smashes everything you thought you knew about history! Don't miss History Smashers: The Mayflower, Women's Right to Vote, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, and American Revolution.

Other Formats: Library Binding , Paperback

Disaster on the Titanic (Ranger in Time #9) Jan 29, 2019

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 293 )

$3.99

Everyone says the Titanic is unsinkable, and Patrick Murphy believes this most of all. He grew up near the shipyard where the magnificent ship was built and officially started working there when he turned thirteen. He's even been chosen to be part of the crew during the Titanic's maiden voyage! Ranger meets Patrick before the ship sets sail, and once on board, they befriend Maryam and Hamad. But one night, the ship hits an iceberg and starts to take on water. It's a race against time for Ranger and his friends to help get as many passengers -- including themselves -- off the ship before it's too late.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Race to the South Pole (Ranger in Time #4) Jun 28, 2016

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 272 )

$3.99

Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, is back! This time, he joins a dangerous expedition to the South Pole!

Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, joins an early twentieth-century expedition journeying from New Zealand to Antarctica. He befriends Jack Nin, the stowaway turned cabin boy of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ship. They're racing against a rival explorer to reach the South Pole, but with unstable ice, killer whales, and raging blizzards, the journey turns into a race against time... and a struggle to stay alive.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Escape from the Great Earthquake (Ranger in Time #6) Jun 27, 2017

by Kate Messner, Kelley McMorris

( 195 )

$3.99

Ranger, the time-traveling golden retriever with search-and-rescue training, helps two new friends survive the Great San Francisco Earthquake!

Ranger travels to San Francisco and meets Lily Chen. She was sent from China to America to work as a young servant, but she dreams of studying to be a doctor. When the Great Earthquake hits, Ranger arrives in time to rescue Lily from falling beams in the mission house where she lives. Together they flee to safety, stopping to help another girl, May Wong, save her little brother from the family's collapsed market. Lily and May try to make their way through the ruined city with Ranger at their side. But can they escape crumbling buildings and raging fires, all while facing anti-Chinese discrimination?

Other Formats: Library Binding , Paperback

More Information

Are you an author? Visit Author Central to change your photo, edit your biography, and more

Similar authors to follow

About Kate Messner

Customers Also Bought Items By

Are you an author?

Author Updates

More Information