All DMPL locations will be closed on Monday, January 20, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Forest Avenue Library's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration will take place at 4 PM at the Forest Avenue Library. Doors open at 3:30 PM for the program.
Warming Center Information: The Central Library meeting room wing will be open on Monday, January 20, from 9 AM-5 PM for use as a warming center. The library itself will remain closed.
Our librarians have hundreds of book recommendations for your next read. Filter by category below, or view one of our Popular Book Lists.
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After spending an afternoon listening to her aunties tell her stories from their pasts, a young girl ruminates on all of the tales that she can create using her imagination and begins to feel as if the possibilities for her future are endless. Filled with Nidhi Chanani's signature vibrant illustrations, What Will My Story Be? is for anyone who finds inspiration in the quiet moments and cherishes the wisdom of the generations that came before them.
Sisters Leah and Lilly have only one thing in common: they share a room. One day, Leah's mess makes Lilly storm out. Only a wild animal could live with Leah. That's not a bad idea! Leah posts a wanted ad, and the search for the perfect new zoo-mate begins. For anyone who's struggled to get along with a sibling, this animal-centric picture book reminds us all why it's worth trying.
Young readers will learn to count from 1 to 20 with this interactive touch-and-trace book of numbers from the My First Home Learning series.
In an unforgettable story that subtly addresses the refugee crisis, a young girl must decide if friendship means giving up the one item that gives her comfort during a time of utter uncertainty. Lubna's best friend is a pebble. She found it on the beach when they arrived in the night, then she fell asleep in Daddy's salty arms. Lubna tells Pebble everything. About home. About her brothers. About the war. Pebble always listens to her stories and smiles when she feels afraid. But when a lost little boy arrives in the World of Tents, Lubna understands that he needs Pebble even more than she does . . .
Agnes has a beak that can crush bones and arms and stretch wide as a car--but that doesn't make her a monster! After she comes across a postcard, Agnes, a giant Pacific octopus, strikes up a correspondence with various other creatures below--and above--the waves. Readers will delight in this unlikely introduction to the octopus life cycle.
Where do poems come from? This beautiful picture book about a young aspiring poet and his grandfather shows that the answer lies all around us--if we take the time to look.
Follow tactile finger trails and cut-out shapes in this sturdy counting book for kids that helps develop your child's fine motor and number skills.
Follow the path and get counting with a first numbers adventure based on the best-loved world of the We're Going on a Bear Hunt.
When it comes to painting, there are so many possibilities! Mix colors, swish your brush around, and see what sorts of marks you can make with just your hand and a bit of paint in this adorable board book!
Creative play meets self-expression in this board book perfect for budding-artist babies!
Do you dream in color? With the help of Crayola colors, this book explores big dreams and the colors that inspire them, from the “silver” of a spaceship and big dreams of being an astronaut, to the “sunset orange” of a landscape and big dreams of being an artist, and more. Whatever you dream about—whether it’s becoming a veterinarian, a baker, and beyond—this book is a sweet reminder that your dreams can be as big, bright, and beautiful as your imagination!
When Gurple and Preen crash land onto a strange alien planet, they must work together to build something new from their mistake in order to save their mission.
This hilarious and clever picture book allows Pencil and Eraser to show Purple Marker—and the rest of us—how to turn our messes into successes and do what makes us happy.
This hilarious and adorable picture book about creativity, fear of failure, and embracing your imperfections is perfect for kids and budding artists of all ages.
After an inspiring visit to the local art museum, Raven Rembrandt is eager to create her own beautiful masterpieces. But the only thing she can seem to draw are ugly doodles -- and they won't go away, no matter how hard she tries to discard them! After a few increasingly inventive attempts to get rid of them, Raven realizes that the only way to learn to love her art is to just create.
Valeria Wicker's endearing and quirky art style adds humor to her sweet and whimsical story about overcoming a fear of imperfection and failure.
Rhyming, fanciful allegory of the creative writing process. When a child’s carefully written poem slips out of a ripped pocket, its words join randomly with other words to form funny riffs and puns all over a busy city street. The child scrambles to capture the loose words and arrange them back into poem form, only to lose them again as a storm swoops in. Eventually, the words plant themselves in the muddy ground, growing into something that might be even better than the original poem: a Poet-Tree. A poem is never really lost. The words may just need a little room to play.
Line and Scribble is a picture book that celebrates imagination and friendship through simple shapes.
Line and Scribble do things differently. Line goes straight while Scribble wanders. Line walks a tightrope as Scribble bursts into fireworks. Line likes to draw with a ruler, and Scribble, well . . . doesn't.
But no matter how different they may seem, Line and Scribble always have enough in common to be best friends.
Some people collect stamps. Some people collect coins. Some people collect art. And Jerome? Jerome collected words . . . In this extraordinary new tale from Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome discovers the magic of the words all around him -- short and sweet words, two-syllable treats, and multisyllable words that sound like little songs. Words that connect, transform, and empower. From the creator of The Dot and Happy Dreamer comes a celebration of finding your own words -- and the impact you can have when you share them with the world.
Animals and kids love to play! This wonderful book celebrates diversity and the interconnectedness of nature through an Indigenous perspective, complete with a glossary of Cree words for wild animals at the back of the book, and children repeating a Cree phrase throughout the book. Readers will encounter birds who chase and chirp, bears who wiggle and wobble, whales who swim and squirt, owls who peek and peep, and a diverse group of kids who love to do the same, shouting:
We play too! / kimêtawânaw mîna
A beautiful ode to the animals and humans we share our world with, We All Play belongs on every bookshelf.
When the babysitter is unable to come, Daniel is woken out of bed and joins his parents as they head downtown for their jobs as nighttime office cleaners. But the story is about more than brooms, mops, and vacuums. Mama and Papa turn the deserted office building into a magnificent kingdom filled with paper. Then they weave a fantasy of dragons and kings to further engage their reluctant companion--and even encourage him to one day be the king of a paper kingdom.
The Paper Kingdom expresses the joy and spirit of a loving family who turn a routine and ordinary experience into something much grander. Magical art by Pascal Campion shows both the real world and the fantasy through the eyes of the young narrator.
A young artist has drawn birds and bird houses in corresponding colors. Now it's time to match them up. The blue bird goes in the blue house, the orange bird in the orange house, and so on. But wait! The birds don't agree with the narrator's choices and, much to her distress, are rebelling by swapping houses. Can the narrator make the birds see sense? Or is it possible that you just can't tell a bird by its feathers?
Want to see what Jeff drew? It's a book about him and all the things he can do!
He can make his own lunch! He can get his own drink. He can take his own bath—pretty cool, don't you think?
Get ready for a riotous time as Jeff explains, in words and self-drawn pictures, all the things he can do—in a book he made all by himself!
A Neal Porter Book
Who says there’s only one way to write a story? A young boy wants to write a story, but he only knows his letters, not words. His sister says, “Why don’t you start there, with a letter?” So the boy tries. He chooses an easy letter to begin with. The letter I. And to his delight, with just the power of his vivid imagination, and no written words, an amazing story begins to unfold. Right before his eyes. This playful tale about creativity will inspire budding authors everywhere to envision new ways to write stories of their own. With or without words!
What good can a splash of color do in a community of gray? As Mira and her neighbors discover, more than you might ever imagine! Based on the true story of the Urban Art Trail in San Diego, California, Maybe Something Beautiful reveals how art can inspire transformation—and how even the smallest artists can accomplish something big. Pick up a paintbrush and join the celebration!
