Nikki Grimes books

Nikki Grimes is an award-winning children's book author and poet known for her verse novels, picture books, and poetry collections celebrating Black life and culture.

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
First Kissof True Lip-Locked Moments 2007 Buy
Amazing Faces 2010 Buy
Banned Together 2025 Buy

Collections

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Come Sunday 1996 Buy
It’s Raining Laughter 1997 Buy
A Dime a Doze 1998 Buy
Hopscotch Love 1999 Buy
Is it Far to Zanzibar? 2000 Buy
Shoe Magic 2000 Buy
A Pocketful of Poems 2001 Buy
Dreams by Day, Dreams by Night 2002 Buy
What is Goodbye? 2004 Buy
At Jerusalem’s Gate 2005 Buy
Thanks a Million 2006 Buy
Welcome, Precious 2006 Buy
Voices of Christmas 2009 Buy
Poems in the Attic 2015 Buy
One Last Word 2017 Buy
Between the Lines 2018 Buy
Legacy 2021 Buy
Glory in the Margins 2021 Buy
Glory, Too: Poems 2025 Buy

Danitra Brown Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Meet Danitra Brown 1984 Buy
Danitra Brown Leaves Town 2001 Buy
Danitra Brown, Class Clown 2005 Buy

Disney’s Winnie-The-Pooh’s Helping Hands Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Oh, Bother! No One’s Listening 1991 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Baby-Sitting 1991 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Fibbing! 1991 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Fighting 1991 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Messy! 1992 Buy
Oh Bother! Someone’s Grumpy! 1992 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone Won’t Share 1993 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Jealous! 1994 Buy
Oh, Bother! Someone’s Afraid Of the Dark 1994 Buy

Dyamonde Daniel Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel 2000 Buy
Rich 2009 Buy
Almost Zero 2010 Buy
Halfway to Perfect 2012 Buy

Garvey Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Garvey’s Choice 2016 Buy
Garvey in the Dark 2022 Buy

Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Tales from Africa - Buy
The Ugly Duckling - Buy
The Little Match Girl - Buy
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - Buy
Early Autumn 1927 N/A
The Flowering of New England 1936 Buy
Lolita 1955 Buy
Rabbit, Run 1960 Buy
The Adventures of Spider 1964 Buy
The Year Around Book 1965 N/A
This is Music for Kindergarten and Nursery School 1965 Buy
The Traveling Frog 1966 Buy
A Book of Shapes & Sizes 1966 Buy
The Beautiful Blue Jay, and other Tales of India 1967 Buy
Even Tiny Ants Must Sleep 1967 Buy
The Clock Museum 1967 Buy
Folktales and Fairytales of Africa 1967 Buy
Shoes, Pennies, and Rockets 1968 Buy
Kostas the Rooster 1968 Buy
The Twin Witches of Fingle Fu 1969 N/A
Juano and the Wonderful Fresh Fish. 1969 Buy
Babushka and the Pig 1969 Buy
The Porcupine and the Tiger 1970 Buy
Cora Annett’s Homerhenry 1970 Buy
The King’s Ditch 1971 Buy
The Planet of Junior Brown 1971 Buy
Femi and Old Grandaddie 1972 Buy
JD 1973 Buy
Kasho and the Twin Flutes. 1973 Buy
Prince Littlefoot 1973 Buy
Mickey and Minny 1973 N/A
The Great Minu 1974 N/A
Roots of Time 1974 Buy
Song of the Trees 1975 Buy
Wuthering Heights 1975 N/A
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry 1975 Buy
Yagua Days 1976 Buy
Gulliver’s Travels 1977 Buy
Selected plays 1977 Buy
Ji-Nongo-Nongo Means Riddles 1978 Buy
History of Tom Jones a Founding 1978 N/A
Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir 1979 Buy
Tonweya and the Eagles 1979 Buy
These Thirteen 1979 N/A
More Adventures of Spider 1980 Buy
Count on Your Fingers African Style 1980 Buy
The Covenant 1980 N/A
Jahdu 1980 Buy
Rabbit Redux 1981 N/A
Monster Myths of Ancient Greece 1981 Buy
Apples On A Stick 1983 Buy
The Patchwork Quilt 1985 Buy
Wild Wild Sunflower Child Anna 1987 Buy
Pop-Up: Strange Animals of the Sea 1987 Buy
Mirandy and Brother Wind 1988 Buy
The Green Lion of Zion Street 1988 Buy
More Tales of Uncle Remus 1988 Buy
Rabbit Makes a Monkey of Lion 1989 Buy
The Talking Eggs 1989 Buy
Turtle in July 1989 Buy
Pretend You’re a Cat 1990 Buy
The Man Who Kept His Heart in a Bucket 1991 Buy
Their Eyes Were Watching God 1991 N/A
David’s Songs 1992 Buy
Back Home 1992 Buy
Drylongso 1992 Buy
A Starlit Somersault Downhill 1993 Buy
I Want to Be 1993 Buy
New Shoes for Silvia 1993 Buy
The Sunday Outing 1994 Buy
John Henry 1994 Buy
The Jungle Book 1995 N/A
Tanya’s Reunion 1995 Buy
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman 1996 Buy
Sam and the Tigers 1996 Buy
The Hired Hand 1997 Buy
Black Cowboy, Wild Horses 1998 Buy
Journeys with Elijah 1999 Buy
Aesop’s Fables 2000 Buy
Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream 2000 Buy
Goin’ Someplace Special 2001 Buy
Noah’s Ark 2002 Buy
The Nightingale 2002 Buy
The Old African 2005 Buy
Music from Our Lord’s Holy Heaven Book and CD 2005 Buy
Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me 2007 Buy
The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll 2007 Buy
Sweethearts of Rhythm 2009 Buy
A Starlit Snowfall 2011 Buy
The First Adventures of Spider 2012 Buy
The Further Adventures of Spider: West African Folktales 2012 Buy
In Plain Sight 2016 Buy
The Christmas Boot 2016 Buy
A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation 2018 Buy
A Home in the Barn 2018 Buy
The Little Mermaid 2020 Buy
A Walk in the Woods 2023 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Malcolm X 1992 Buy
Portrait of Mary 1994 Buy
Talkin’ About Bessie 1998 Buy
Tai Chi Morning 2004 Buy
Barack Obama 2008 Buy
Out of the Dark 2009 Buy
Words with Wings 2013 Buy
Ordinary Hazards 2019 Buy
Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice 2020 Buy

Picture Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Disney’s The Little Mermaid - Buy
Something on My Mind 1986 Buy
Disney’s Mickey Mouse In Sky Island 1990 Buy
Mickey Mouse in the Viking’s Eye 1990 Buy
Minnie ’n Me 1990 Buy
Walt Disney’s Pinocchio 1992 Buy
Minnie’s New Friend 1992 Buy
From a Child’s Heart 1993 Buy
Walt Disney’s Cinderella 1993 Buy
C is for City 1995 Buy
Wild, Wild Hair 1997 Buy
Baby’s Bedtime 1999 Buy
My Man Blue 1999 Buy
At Break of Day 1999 Buy
Aneesa Lee and the Weaver’s Gift 1999 Buy
When Daddy Prays 2002 Buy
Under the Christmas Tree 2002 Buy
A Day with Daddy 2004 Buy
When Gorilla Goes Walking 2007 Buy
Oh, Brother! 2007 Buy
Chasing Freedom 2015 Buy
The Watcher 2017 Buy
Bedtime for Sweet Creatures 2020 Buy
Southwest Sunrise 2020 Buy
Off to See the Sea 2021 Buy
Playtime for Restless Rascals 2022 Buy
A Walk in the Woods 2023 Buy
Lullaby for the King 2023 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Growin' 1977 Buy
Jazmin’s Notebook 1998 Buy
Stepping Out with Grandma Mac 2001 Buy
Bronx Masquerade 2001 Buy
Dark Sons 2005 Buy
The Road to Paris 2006 Buy
A Girl Named Mister 2010 Buy
Planet Middle School 2011 Buy

Nikki Grimes is one of the most recognized names in children’s literature and poetry. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has written picture books, verse novels, poetry collections, non-fiction, and novels for young readers. Her work frequently explores the Black experience in America, family relationships, faith, and the challenges of growing up. She has won multiple awards including the Coretta Scott King Award and the Children’s Literature Legacy Award.

Her output is remarkably wide-ranging. The Danitra Brown books introduced readers to a lively friendship told in verse. The Dyamonde Daniel series follows a spirited third-grader navigating school and community. Her poetry collections, from Come Sunday to Glory in the Margins, cover subjects from prayer and praise to literary response and personal memory. She has also written non-fiction biographies of figures like Malcolm X and Barack Obama, and contributed to Disney’s Winnie the Pooh character books early in her career.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Nikki Grimes written?

Nikki Grimes has written 182 books across ten series.

What was Nikki Grimes's first book?

Nikki Grimes’s first book is Early Autumn, published in 1927.

Has Nikki Grimes won any major awards?

Yes, Nikki Grimes has received the Coretta Scott King Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, among other honors for her contributions to children’s literature.

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