Nelson's book
Narratives from the Crib (Harvard University Press, 2006) investigates the cognitive and linguistic development of a two-year-old, based on an in-depth analysis of the child's
crib talk (pre-sleep monologues). Her book
Language in Cognitive Development: Emergence of the Mediated Mind (Cambridge University Press, 1998) stands in contrast to the theories of
Jean Piaget and others that cognitive and linguistic development are independent of each other, and instead views language acquisition as a bridge that connects a child's social and cultural growth with his or her growing knowledge of the world. In collaboration with her former doctoral student
Robyn Fivush, she developed a theory that parent-child reminiscing about the past plays a foundational role in the formation of
autobiographical memory. She is also the author or co-author of: •
Structure and Strategy in Learning to Talk (University of Chicago Press, 1973) • ''Young Children's Knowledge of Relational Terms: Some ifs, ors, and buts'' (with Lucia A. French, Springer-Verlag, 1985) •
Making Sense: The Acquisition of Shared Meaning (Academic Press, 1985) •
Event Knowledge: Structure and Function in Development (with Janice Gruendel, Psychology Press, 1986) •
Sociocultural Psychology: Theory and Practice of Doing and Knowing (with Ethel Tobach, Cambridge University Press, 1995) • ''Conceptual Development: Piaget's Legacy'' (with Ellin Kofsky Scholnick, Susan A. Gelman, and
Patricia H. Miller, Psychology Press, 1999) •
Young Minds in Social Worlds: Experience, Meaning, and Memory (Harvard University Press, 2007) ==Selected articles==