Hope Anita Smith


Hope Anita Smith is an American poet and author of children's books, best known for winning the Coretta Scott King Honor for her middle grade novel ''Keeping the Night Watch.''

Biography

Smith was born in Akron, Ohio. She was introduced to the children's publishing industry via fellow author and teacher Myra Cohn Livingston, whose class she attended and ultimately discovered her voice and interest in writing for children there. She attended La Sierra University from 1980 to 1983, studying English, but ultimately did not graduate.
Smith wrote her second picture book My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads, with the intention of celebrating fathers all over the world because she cites to have always had a soft spot for the way fathers interact with their children, also intending to give credit to fathers''.''

Selected works

Picture booksMother Poems My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads
Middle gradeThe Way a Door Closes, illustrated by Shane W. Evans Keeping the Night Watch It Rained Warm Bread, co-authored with Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet, illustrated by Lea Lyon

Awards and honors