Salley King Edwards is an early childhood educator with more than 25 years of experience supporting children, families, and educators. Her career includes roles as a classroom teacher, interventionist, literacy coach, and district literacy coach, as well as work at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center—where, on her first day, the two-year-olds in her class “schooled” her in jazz. That moment cemented a belief she carries to this day: never underestimate the brilliance of babies.

Now a mother of three—including a baby born later in life who inspired this series—Salley began writing board books when she couldn’t find options that built both language and knowledge using real photographs. Her books use carefully selected topics and real-world images to build conceptual knowledge, spark curiosity, and support early language development.

Salley partners with community organizations to support early language and literacy development through special pricing and book donations.

She is also a content writer for the Rollins Center for Language and Literacy's free online platform, Cox Campus.