Grace Nichols
Grace Nichols was born in Guyana and has lived in Britain since 1977. Her first collection of poetry, I Is A Long-Memoried Woman, won the 1983 Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Among her other books for adults are the popular The Fat Black Woman’s Poems. Her children’s books include The Poet Cat, Paint Me a Poem (awarded the Children's Poetry Book-Shelf Best Single Author’s Collection) and Cosmic Disco.
She has edited anthologies including Poetry Jump Up; with her poet partner, John Agard, she edited collections such as Under The Moon and Over the Sea, which won a CLPE Award. She is among the poets on the current GCSE syllabus and received the Cholmondeley Award in 2000 as well as an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Hull. She also has an adult book called The Insomnia Poems.
Books
Cosmic Disco
Author: Grace Nichols Illustrator: Alice Wright
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Interest age: 7-9
Reading age: 7-9
A poetry collection from the Guyana-born poet Grace Nichols that cover themes of seasons, planets and the cosmos for younger children, but also contains something for everyone to enjoy.
No Baby No
Author: Grace Nichols
Illustrator: Eleanor Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 0+
Reading age: 4+
Amusing illustrations of a mischievous baby's exploits accompany the rhyming text, making this a book small children will want to read and recite again and again.
Pumpkin Grumpkin
Author: Various Editor: John Agard and Grace Nichols
Illustrator: Satoshi Kitamura
Publisher: Walker Books
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Amusing and bemusing poetry from around the globe. John Agard and Grace Nichols have assembled a bunch of silly poems in this new collection brought to life with quirky illustrations by Satoshi Kitamura.
From classics like The Jabberwocky to great contemporary nonsense like The Computer's First Proverb, there's something for everyone in this vibrant, varied …