[6] While working on these shows she produced three children's picture books: Hank and Fergus, Mormor Moves In, and The Magic Beads.
Her first independent novel, Word Nerd, deals with bullying, a theme she returns to in The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen.
Nielsen's 2015 book, We Are All Made of Molecules, about two step siblings trying to form a bond with each other, was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award.
[6] Nielsen's 2021 book, Tremendous Things, was nominated for the 2022 Ontario Library Association's Red Maple Award for Fiction.
[10] In 2015, The Globe and Mail,[11] Kirkus Reviews,[12] Quill & Quire, and The Telegraph[13] included We Are All Made of Molecules on their list of the best young adult novels of the year.