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Staff Picks

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03/04/2025
Boulder Library

Cover ArtAn adorable narrator faces self-doubt in this light-hearted picture book that is charming, funny and self-affirming for unicorn lovers as well as anyone who feels different or unsure of their identity.

Publisher description:

"See?" cries the bull. "Uni means one, and corn means horn!" Even his baby picture proves it: he was born with one horn! But as the eager little guy continues his research, a budding identity crisis arises when he realizes he doesn't quite check all the boxes-should a certain lack of moonlight sparkle or silky mane or rainbow poop decide the issue. Perhaps some unexpected encouragement from a pack of "real" unicorns might be just the assurance he needs? Helen Yoon, the comic talent behind Sheepish (Wolf Under Cover) and the anarchic Off-Limits, returns with a clarion call for self-doubters everywhere to embrace who they are-unicorn or otherwise."

Find I'm a Unicorn in our online catalog

Cover Art
"Recounts Nina Simone's early years as a brilliant musician through her painful racist rejection by The Curtis Institute and her defiant return to music. "Done being polite," Nina evolved into a powerful performer, calling out injustice and empowering Black America. A triumphant book."
 
Publisher's description: 
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in small town North Carolina, Nina Simone was a musical child. She sang before she talked and learned to play piano at a very young age. With the support of her family and community, she received music lessons that introduced her to classical composers like Bach who remained with her and influenced her music throughout her life. She loved the way his music began softly and then tumbled to thunder, like her mother's preaching, and in much the same way as her career. During her first performances under the name of Nina Simone her voice was rich and sweet but as the Civil Rights Movement gained steam, Nina's voice soon became a thunderous roar as she raised her voice in powerful protest in the fight against racial inequality and discrimination.
 
Cover ArtGorgeous photos and compelling rhyme take you on a deep-sea adventure in this nonfiction picture book. Informational boxes provide facts about hunting techniques, defenses, and even octopus personalities! Preschoolers and other young scientists will love diving into this entertaining book.
 

Publisher's description:
This playful picture book introduces young readers to the fascinating world of octopuses big and small, ink-squirting and shape-shifting, all around the planet. With their super smarts and awe-inspiring abilities, octopuses have captivated human imaginations. This book is a celebration of all things weird and wonderful about these beloved creatures--with their eight arms, nine brains, and one-of-a-kind personalities. Inside, find lyrical poetry paired with informational sidebars--perfect for a charming bedtime read or for pouring over for in-depth octopus info. Gorgeous photos of real octopuses give kids an up-close and personal glimpse of the sensational cephalopods--from the utterly adorable Dumbo octopus to the stunning blue-ringed octopus-and their incredible habitats and body parts.

Find Mysterious, Marvelous Octopus in our online catalog

Cover ArtGorgeous artwork illustrates this story of a Native family's powwow experience. From preparing the dresses and regalia to the musical "rum-rum-tum" and "tink-tink-tink-tink" of the performance, readers discover the anticipation and joy in this American Indian tradition.
 

Publisher's description:
A young Indigenous girl's family helps calm her nervous butterflies before her first Jingle Dress Dance and reminds her why she dances.

Find Why we dance: a story of hope and healing in our online catalog

Cover ArtFrom its concise yet deep narrative of Baldwin's experience to the powerful, evocative illustrations, this picture book celebrates the complex life of a great author. Be sure to spend some time enjoying the delightful photos that bookend this marvelous middle grade biography.

Publisher's description:
Celebrate James Baldwin's one-hundredth birthday anniversary with the first-ever illustrated biography of this legendary writer, orator, activist, and intellectual. Before he became a writer, James 'Jimmy' Baldwin was a young boy from Harlem, New York, who loved stories.

Find Jimmy's Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin in our online catalog

 
 
Cover ArtMusic and dance defy segregation in this gorgeous picture book. Spirited images of musicians and dancers illustrate the story of a mixed-race mambo team in 1948. You'll want to cue up some Latin Jazz (ideally Machito and His Afro-Cubans; otherwise, maybe some Tito Puente) after this inspiring read!
 
Publisher's description:
Millie danced to jazz in her Italian neighborhood. Pedro danced to Latin songs in his Puerto Rican neighborhood. It was the 1940s in New York City, and they were forbidden to dance together . . . until first a band and then a ballroom broke the rules. Machito and His Afro-Cubans hit the scene with a brand-new sound, blending jazz trumpets and saxophones with Latin maracas and congas creating Latin jazz, music for the head, the heart, and the hips. Then the Palladium Ballroom issued a bold challenge to segregation and threw open its doors to all. Illustrated with verve and told through real-life characters who feature in an afterword, ¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! portrays the power of music and dance to transcend racial, religious, and ethnic boundaries.
 
Cover ArtBabies are front and center in this picture book exploring the exciting moments of a baby's first year. With rhyming text, familiar experiences, and a diverse representation of families, this book will appeal to very young children as well as their older siblings.
 
Publisher's description: When you are a brand new baby there are many things you can do in the world--and when you get bigger there are even more new experiences.
 
Cover ArtBabies are front and center in this picture book exploring the exciting moments of a baby's first year. With rhyming text, familiar experiences, and a diverse representation of families, this book will appeal to very young children as well as their older siblings.
 
Publisher's description
When you are a brand new baby there are many things you can do in the world--and when you get bigger there are even more new experiences.
 
Cover ArtWhen his world turns upside down, 12-year-old Wallace (nicknamed "Lolly") builds a new one--out of Lego.
 
Publisher's description:
Winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. Unable to celebrate the holidays in the wake of his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting, Lolly Rachpaul struggles to avoid being forced into a gang himself while constructing a fantastically creative LEGO city at the Harlem community center.
 
Cover ArtCassandra Cain knows how to kill. But she doesn't know anything else. She doesn't speak, doesn't read, doesn't even know what her latest victim's dying cries of "daughter" mean. But those cries awaken Cassandra, and she is done being an assassin. Now the question is: what (who?) will she be?
 
Publisher's description:
Cassandra Cain, teenage assassin, isn't exactly Batgirl material...not yet, at least. But with Batgirl missing from Gotham City, can Cassandra defy her destiny and take on a heroic mantle of her very own? She'll have to go through an identity crisis of epic proportions to find out.
 
After a soul-shattering moment that sends Cass reeling, she'll attempt to answer this question the only way she knows how: learning everything she possibly can about her favorite hero-Batgirl. But Batgirl hasn't been seen in Gotham for years, and when Cass's father threatens the world she has grown to love, she'll have to step out of the shadows and overcome her greatest obstacle-that voice inside her head telling her she can never be a hero.
 
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