Nikki Grimes
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Nikki Grimes is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Nikki Grimes
Nikki Grimes is a poet and author whose many books for children range from board books to verse novels. In 2017 she received the Children's Literature Legacy Award for her substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
Born in Harlem in 1950, Grimes began composing verse at six and gave her first public poetry reading at thirteen, at the Countee Cullen Library a block from the hospital where she was born; she later met James Baldwin, whom she calls the single most important influence in her literary life.
Also by this author: Bronx Masquerade · Words with Wings · Garvey’s Choice
Official website: nikkigrimes.com
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.