Levine is the director of UNC-Chapel Hill's Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning and a professor of pediatrics.
His latest book, "A Mind at a Time," published by Simon & Schuster, has spent more than 27 weeks on The New York Times' hardcover nonfiction bestsellers list.
Levine said the books he writes are inspired by more than 30 years of working with children who are trying to do well in school but often are struggling.
"I've always had enormous confidence in (children)," Levine said, adding that it is the job of adults to show them how use their strengths for success.
While many doctors diagnose struggling children with attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, Levine takes the approach of meeting these children at their level and focusing on their strengths to help them succeed.
Levine said his main goal is teaching students how to enhance their strengths.
"Mel Levine is one of a handful of researchers who have focused for decades on the nature of these differences," said Howard Gardner, professor at Harvard University.
"He is virtually unique -- to coin a phrase -- in his grounding."
Each of the books Levine has written takes one idea from his approach to teaching children with difficulties and expands on it, emphasizing that weaknesses should be seen as strengths.
"The thing that continues to strike me is that he has an appreciation in the difference in the ways kids learn," said Bob Audette, professor of education at the UNC-Charlotte, who has known Levine since he was a young pediatrician.
"Mel's approach has always been that these differences are normal," he said.
Furthering his outreach to help struggling children succeed, Levine founded "All Kinds of Minds," a national nonprofit organization that helps children succeed in school.
Many of the nation's leaders in child development and learning have come together under this program to advance the movement to see differences in learning as positive aspects rather than trying to diagnose them as disabilities and treat them with medication.
"We're mostly working with teachers who work with the individual students," Levine said.
"He finds labels to be very limiting," said Ann Wallace of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, which initially financed "All Kinds of Minds."
With Levine's new approach to teaching, Audette said he has seen great examples of seeing teachers welcoming kids with difficulties instead of cringing.
Some teachers also are seeing learning differences as valuable to the classroom and the individual student.
"I think what is defining about Doctor Levine's work is that it's based on great respect for the children," Wallace said.
Levine said most of the reactions he has gotten to his new book have been positive.
"The most difficult thing to deal with is the letters I've gotten from parents," Levine said.
"One mom said she feels like when her child leaves (for school), she's sending him to jail."
But he said "A Mind at a Time" gives hope to parents who think their children are getting discouraged because they aren't succeeding in school.
Levine said, "We're hoping to start a revolution in education."
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