Northampton February 2025 Children's Staff Picks

"Tall. High as the clouds. Strong as a horse's back. Like a cowboy. In the early hours before dawn, a young girl and her father greet their horses and ride together through the waking city streets. As they trot along, Daddy tells cowboy stories filled with fun and community, friendship, discovery, and pride. Seeing her city from a new vantage point and feeling seen in a new way, the child discovers that see too is a cowboy -- strong and confident...

"A painting has been stolen...! When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft? Agatha the turtle knows -- she has been watching from the garden. But she can't exactly tell anyone...can she? Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery? The...

"The last of his kind, Griso travels the world searching for unicorn companions. He asks beetles, chameleons, and buffalos if they've seen any mythical creatures like him, and all send him on his way saying, "Neither here nor at the edge of the world." Griso gallops across plains, marshes, and mountains, he trots into the sunset and chats with fearsome narwals by the sea. On each spread, we see Griso rendered in a new artistic style, portrayed as...

"Banshees are well known to most of us as supernatural Irish harbingers of doom. But not many know that they grow on the prickly gorse bush inside little pods, and that the sole job of a baby banshee, or "bansheenie," is to bond with a human and know all there is to know about that person, including when they're destined to breathe their last breath. One bansheenie named Beanie, however, is no ordinary herald of death. When she sees her person, a...

"Being a samurai isn't easy. Sixteen-year-old Chihiro Ito knows that more than anyone. Her father is renowned among the samurai, but the only thing Chihiro is known for is spending way too much time on her phone obsessing over Tatsuo Nakano, Chihiro's idol and the first woman to be accepted into Kesi Academy, a prestigious samurai school. So, when Chihiro's father is conscripted for service and the opportunity arises to work with Tatsuo in his stead,...

With a family who refuses to learn sign language, twelve-year-old Effie is mostly cut off from human communication at home, unable to speak of her abusive stepfather or violent father -- only her interpreter understands, and Miss Kathy is willing to take Effie's case to court to provide her with a safe home. Told in verse.

"Two friends discover their feelings for each other and find a space in their world for their love and identity. George has major problems: They've just inherited the failing family estate, and the feelings for their best friend, Eleanor, have become more complicated than ever. Not to mention, if anyone found out they were secretly dressing in men's clothes, George is sure it would be ruination for the family name. Eleanor has always wanted to do...

A lonely star encounters a passing comet, and the duo forms a friendship, meeting every seventy-six years.

"The last of his kind, Griso travels the world searching for unicorn companions. He asks beetles, chameleons, and buffalos if they've seen any mythical creatures like him, and all send him on his way saying, "Neither here nor at the edge of the world." Griso gallops across plains, marshes, and mountains, he trots into the sunset and chats with fearsome narwals by the sea. On each spread, we see Griso rendered in a new artistic style, portrayed as...

"A nonfiction narrative book about left-handedness"-- Provided by publisher.