Zetta Elliott facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zetta Elliott
Elliott in 2025
Born	(1972-10-26) October 26, 1972 (age 52) Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Poet, playwright, and author
Alma mater	New York University

Zetta Elliott (born October 26, 1972) is a Canadian-American writer. She is a talented poet, playwright, and author. Her first picture book, Bird, won many awards. Zetta Elliott is also known for her other books for children. She writes essays, plays, and novels for young adults too.

About Zetta Elliott

Zetta Elliott was born in Ajax, Ontario, Canada, on October 26, 1972. She has lived in the United States for most of her adult life. In 1994, she moved to Brooklyn to study at New York University (NYU). Later, she moved to Philadelphia. She earned a special degree called a PhD from NYU. She has also taught as a professor at different colleges.

Zetta Elliott's Writing Journey

Zetta Elliott writes about important and sometimes tough topics. She often explores how people deal with difficult challenges in modern life. She wants her books to help Black people feel seen and understood.

Her First Picture Book: Bird

Elliott's first book for everyone to read was Bird, a children's picture book published in 2008. The artist, Shadra Strickland, won an award for her amazing pictures in the book. Bird also won other awards, like the New Voices Award Honor. Elliott first wrote Bird as a short story in 2006. It became a picture book after she and Shadra Strickland worked on it together.

Young Adult Novels

Zetta Elliott has written young adult (YA) novels. Her first YA books were A Wish After Midnight and its sequel, The Door at the Crossroads. These books are fantasy stories. They are about a Black teenager from Brooklyn, New York. This teenager travels back in time to Brooklyn in 1863. A Wish After Midnight was first released in 2008. It was re-released by Amazon in 2010. The Door at the Crossroads came out in 2016.

The City Books Series

The City Books series is for younger readers, usually ages 6 to 10. This series started in 2014 with The Phoenix on Barkley Street. Then came Dayshaun's Gift in 2015. Like A Wish After Midnight, Dayshaun's Gift sends the main character back to 1863. This was during the time of the New York City draft riots. Alex Portal drew the pictures for this story. Elliott also released City Books #3: The Ghosts in the Castle in 2017. City Books #4: The Phantom Unicorn came out that same year. Charity Russell illustrated both of these books.

Working with Purple Wong

In 2015, Elliott started working with artist Purple Wong. Wong illustrated Elliott's poem I Love Snow! as a children's picture book. They worked together on more books. In 2016, they released A Hand to Hold and Milo's Museum. Billie's Blues was also released in 2016, with illustrations by Paul Melecky. In 2017, they published Benny Doesn't Like to Be Hugged. This poetic picture book is about autism. Their poem On My Block was published in 2020. Zetta Elliott believes in having many different kinds of people in books. In Benny Doesn't Like to Be Hugged, there is a Native American boy. He wears a t-shirt with a Native superhero called Super Indian. This character was created by Arigon Starr.

Other Notable Works

In 2016, Tilbury House Publishers released Melena's Jubilee: the story of a fresh start. Aaron Boyd created the artwork using different materials. This book was named a "Best Children's Book of the Year" in 2016. It also received an honor from Skipping Stones magazine in 2017.

Elliott published her young adult novel, Mother of the Sea, in 2017. She published this book through her own publishing company, Rosetta Press. Many of her children's books are also published by Rosetta Press.

The first book in Elliott's fantasy series for middle schoolers is Dragons in a Bag. It was chosen as one of Amazon's "Best Children's Books of the Year" in 2018. The second book in this series is called The Dragon Thief. Both books were published by Random House. Geneva B. drew the illustrations for them.

In 2018, Elliott contributed to a book called We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices. She wrote a poem called "You Too Can Fly". This book featured works from 50 famous authors and artists. It was recognized as a "Best Book of 2018" by important book reviewers. In her poem, Elliott shares a message of hope:

remember:

the fiercest dragons

emerge from the

darkest depths

and a single star

sparkling

in the sable sky

may guide you to

your destiny…

In 2019, Elliott also contributed to New Daughters of Africa. This is a collection of writings by African women. That same year, she published Find Your Voice: A Guide to Self-Expression. This book helps young writers learn how to express themselves.

Her poetry collection Say Her Name (Poems to Empower) came out in 2020. It has 49 poems. Four of these poems honor other famous authors. Loveis Wise created the cover and illustrations. Later in 2020, she released another poetry collection called American Phoenix. It contains 40 poems.

In 2020, Elliott published a children's picture book called A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart. This book is about important social issues and fighting for fairness. The illustrator, Noa Denmon, and Elliott won a 2021 Caldecott Honor for it. The story is about a young Black boy's feelings after a sad event in his community involving police. In 2021, some people in a school in Cold Harbor, Virginia wanted to remove the book. They thought it was too political. But after a review, the school board decided to keep the book. Elliott said this effort was part of a bigger attempt to stop different viewpoints from being shared.

Awards and Honors

• 2005: Bird (published in 2008) – New Voices Award Honor; Ezra Jack Keats Book Award for New Illustrator; 2009 Paterson Prize for Book for Young Readers
• 2012: Ship of Souls – Booklist's Top Ten Sci-fi/Fantasy Titles for Youth; finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award
• 2018: Dragon in a Bag – Amazon Best Children's Book of the Year selection