Nikki Shannon Smith is an educator, presenter, and the award-winning author of 24 published and forthcoming children’s books. Her titles include the middle grade novel, STRANDED (Scholastic), OUR BEAUTIFUL COLORS (Little Golden Books), and the board book series Brown Baby Parade (Crown Books/Random House). Nikki is also the author of the Azaleah Lane chapter book series and five titles in Capstone’s middle grade series, Girls Survive. LENA AND THE BURNING OF GREENWOOD: A TULSA RACE MASSACRE SURVIVAL STORY won the 2023 Oklahoma Book Award. Her upcoming titles include LETTERS TO MISTY: HOW TO MOVE THROUGH LIFE WITH CONFIDENCE AND GRACE co-written with Misty Copeland (Aladdin, May 2025), DEEP SECRETS: A TITANIC NOVEL (Scholastic, Fall 2025), and PRINCE (A Little Golden Book Biography, 2026). Nikki’s writing is informed not only by her research, but by her childlike curiosity and thirty years of elementary school teaching. She is from Oakland, California and is represented by Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Learn more about Nikki at https://nikkishannonsmith.com/home-page.
“Nikki was amazing! I learned so much about picture book writing from her. She kept the work interesting and read mentor texts that help to connect the dots.”
“Loved Nikki elaborating on so many affirming points: no need for history clarification; reading like a writer – I would love a course on how to build this skill more; speaking to the space for non conventional storytelling… And warm gratitude.”
“Nikki’s wonderful big questions gave space for me to question my own writing and be in relationship with my own creativity. Affirming spaces are wonderful for creative abundance!”
