Nikki Grimes (born October 20, 1950) is an American author of books written for children and young adults, as well as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Background and career

Grimes was born in Harlem, New York. In a conversation with a

Reading Is Fundamental Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is the oldest and largest non-profit children's literacy organization in the United States. RIF provides books (print and digital) and reading resources to children nationwide with supporting literacy resourc ...

interviewer, she stated: "Books were my survival tools. They were how I got by, and how I coped with things. Books carried me away." She has been a guest lecturer at

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body a ...

s in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and

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. She has written articles for magazines such as ''Today's Christian Woman'' and ''

Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

''. Her interests and talents are diverse and include

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

fiber art Fiber art (fibre art in British spelling) refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as ...

, and

beading Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary ...

. Grimes currently resides in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

, and continues to write poetry and books for children and young adults. She is on the board of directors for the

National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA) is an American non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of literacy, literature, and libraries for young people. It was founded in 1997 by Mary Brigid Barrett and other children's book a ...

. Her work has earned her honors and recognition from a number of prestigious organizations. Her novel ''Bronx Masquerade'' was named the Coretta Scott King Award book in 2002. The

Coretta Scott King Award The Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award rec ...

is "given to

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions." In January 2017, she was awarded the

Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal The Children's Literature Legacy Award (known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal until 2018) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrat ...

. "The Wilder Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." Following controversy surrounding Laura Ingalls Wilder's stereotypical portrayals of indigenous peoples and the subsequent changing of the medal's name, Grimes' work was criticized for alleged anti-semitism.

Works

Published works

*''Growin': a novel'' (1977), illustrated by Charles Lilly *''Something on My Mind'' (1978), art by Tom Feelings *''Malcolm X: A Force for Change'' (1992) *''From a Child's Heart'' (1993), illustrated by Brenda Joysmith * ''Meet Danitra Brown'' (1994), illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book) * ''Portrait of Mary'' (1994) * ''Come Sunday'' (1996), illustrated by Michael Bryant * ''Wild, Wild Hair'' (1997), illustrated by George Cephas Ford * ''Jazmin's Notebook'' (1998) (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book) * ''A Dime a Dozen'' (1998), illustrated by Angelo * ''My Man Blue'' (1999), illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue (Marion Vannett Ridgway Award) * ''Hopscotch Love'' (1999), illustrated by Melodye Benson Rosales * ''At Break of Day'' (1999), illustrated by Paul Morin * ''Aneesa Lee and the Weaver's Gift'' (2000), illustrated by

Ashley Bryan Ashley Frederick Bryan (July 13, 1923February 4, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006 ...

*''Is It Far to Zanzibar?'' (2000), illustrated by Betsy Lewin * ''Shoe Magic'' (2001), illustrated by Terry Widener * ''A Pocketful of Poems'' (2001), illustrated by

Javaka Steptoe Javaka Steptoe (born April 19, 1971) is an American author and illustrator. He won the 2017 Caldecott Medal as well as the Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, and the Coretta Scott King Book Award from the American Library ...

*''Under the Christmas Tree'' (2002), illustrated by Kadir Nelson *''Danitra Brown Leaves Town'' (2002), illustrated by Floyd Cooper * ''Stepping Out with Grandma Mac'' (2002), illustrated by Angelo * ''C Is for City'' (2002), illustrated by Pat Cummings * ''When Daddy Prays'' (2002), illustrated by Tim Ladwig * ''Bronx Masquerade'' (2002), (Coretta Scott King Author Award) (Best Children's Book of 2002, Association of Theological Booksellers) * ''Talkin' About Bessie'' (2002), illustrated by E.B. Lewis (Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, Author Honor Book) * ''Tai Chi Morning'' (2004), illustrated by Ed Young * ''A Day with Daddy'' (2004), illustrated by Nicole Tadgell * ''What Is Goodbye?'' (2004), illustrated by Raul Colón ( ALA Notable Book) * ''It's Raining Laughter'', photographs by Myles C. Pinkney * ''At Jerusalem's Gate'', illustrated by David Frampton * ''Danitra Brown, Class Clown'' (2005), illustrated by E.B. Lewis * ''Dark Sons'' (2005, reissued 2010), (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book) * ''Thanks a Million'' (2006), illustrated by Cozbi A. Carrera * ''Welcome, Precious'' (2006), illustrated by

Bryan Collier Bryan Collier (born 1967) is an American writer and illustrator known best for illustrating children's books. He won both the Coretta Scott King Award, as illustrator, and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award for ''Uptown'' (Holt, 2000), the ...

* '' The Road to Paris'' (2006), (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book) * ''When Gorilla Goes Walking'' (2007), illustrate by Shane Evans * ''Oh, Brother!'' (2007), illustrated by Mike Benny * ''Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope'' (2008), illustrated by

(NY Times Bestseller) * ''Out of the Dark: Nikki Grimes, Author at Work'' (2009) * ''Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel'' (2009), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie * ''Rich: a Dyamonde Daniel Book'' (2009), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie * ''Voices of Christmas'' (2009), illustrated by Eric Velasquez * ''A Girl Named Mister'' (2001) * ''Almost Zero: a Dyamonde Daniel Book'' (2010), illustrated by R. Gregory Christie * ''Planet Middle School'' (2011) *''Halfway to Perfect'' (2012) * ''Words with Wings'' (2013), Coretta Scott King honor book *''Chasing Freedom'' (2015), illustrated by Michele Wood *''Poems in the Attic'' (2015), illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon *''Garvey's Choice'' (2016) Laura Ingall Wilder Award *''One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance'' (2017), various artists *''The Watcher'' (2017), illustrated by Bryan Collier *''Ordinary Hazards: a Memoir'' (2019) *''Bedtime for Sweet Creatures'' (2020), illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon *''Southwest Sunrise'' (2020), illustrated by Wendell Minor *''Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice'' (2020), illustrated by Laura Freeman *''Off to See the Sea'' (2021), illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

Awards and honors

* 1993 NAACP Image Award Finalist for Malcolm X: a Force for Change * 2003 Coretta Scott King Author Award for ''Bronx Masquerade'' * 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children * 2011 Horace Mann Upstanders Award for ''Almost Zero: a Dyamonde Daniel Book'' *2012 NAACP Image Award for ''Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope'' * 2016 Virginia Hamilton Literacy Award *2017 Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry for ''Garvey's Choice'' * 2017 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal *2017 Children's Literature Legacy Award *2018 Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Middle Graders for ''One Last Word'' *2018 Claudia Lewis Poetry Award for ''One Last Word'' *2018 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for ''One Last Word'' *2020 Arnold Adoff Poetry Award for Teens for ''Ordinary Hazards'' Numerous Honor Awards and book lists including Coretta Scott King Honors; Arnold Adoff Poetry Honor; ALA Notable Books; Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor; Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor; Horn Book Fanfare; VOYA Non-Fiction Honor; The Lion & The Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry; International Youth Library White Ravens List; Notable Books for a Global Society.

References

External links

*
HarperCollins

Scholastic.com

Simon & Schuster

* ttps://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2009/authors/Grimes.html 2009 National Book Festival webcast
National Children's Book & Literary Alliance Board of DirectorsSpotlight on NCTE Poets: Nikki Grimes - career overview at No Water River blog

Interviews

Reading Rockets video interview

James Blasingame interviews Nikki Grimes

''Christian Standard'' interview

IRA Favorite Teacher Breakfast video
*
Lee Bennett Hopkins on the Career of Nikki Grimes
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, Nikki American children's writers People from Corona, California Living people 1950 births African-American writers 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people