Jolene Gutiérrez
Jolene Gutiérrez grew up on a farm in northeastern Colorado, surrounded by animals, plants, and history. Now, she lives with her family and a variety of animals in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. She is an award-winning teacher-librarian and has been working with neurodivergent learners at Denver Academy since 1995. She’s a wife of 25+ years and mama to two young adults, three dogs, two cats, and an ever-rotating variety of other rescue animals. Jolene is an active member of SCBWI and The Authors Guild, part of the KidLitCollective and Picture Book Gold groups, and a co-creator of #KidlitZombieWeek. Jolene is represented by agent Kaitlyn Sanchez of Context Literary. She’s a contributor to If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility (2025) and the author of Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp (2025), Mamiachi and Me (2025), The Ofrenda That We Built (2024), Too Much! (2023), the Stars of Latin Pop series (2021), Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, and Beaks (2020), and Mac and Cheese and the Personal Space Invader (2020).
Mamiachi & Me
Mamiachi & Me is a lyrical and empowering picture book written by Jolene and Dakota Gutiérrez and illustrated by Mirelle Ortega, winner of a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor, about what it means to be a mariachi in an all‑female band.
Today’s the day! Rosa will take the stage next to her mami and play along with her popular mariachi band. But as they fasten the shiny botonaduras and tie the moños on their charra suits, Rosa begins to worry. What if the audience doesn’t like her? Is she ready to perform?
With her mamiachi and madrinas by her side, Rosa’s stage fright is soothed away by the sound of trumpets, guitars, and violins. Centering on the power of sisterhood, community, and music, the warm and lively text by mother-and-son writing duo Jolene and Dakota Gutiérrez—joined by Mirelle Ortega’s beautiful illustrations—provides a unique perspective to the male-dominated world of mariachi.
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Learn about and celebrate the Day of the Dead! With warmth and energy, this spirited picture book is a joyful ode to family traditions and the memory of loved ones who have passed but whom we continue to remember.
It is Día de Muertos—the Day of the Dead—and the family ofrenda is at the center of the celebration! Inspired by the popular nursery rhyme “The House That Jack Built,” The Ofrenda That We Built invites readers to join in the building of a colorful ofrenda, a home altar full of symbols and meaning, one special element at a time.
The Ofrenda That We Built
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