April Books - Librarian’s Faves
Since September 2021, I have been writing monthly book recommendation columns for local Socorro County Newspaper, El Defensor Chieftain. -Ivy Stover, Library Director
April is my birthday month! To celebrate, this month, I’m choosing some of my favorite ever books. All of them are available to check out from the Magdalena Public Library and I cannot recommend them enough.
Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
Mr. Panda has a box of donuts to share. But does anyone have good enough manners to ask nicely?
Before I was a librarian, I spent a year as a substitute teacher in Socorro. Quick shout-out to all of the kiddoes I met and taught. I hope you’re all doing great! I read this book to several classes that year, and it's one of my favorite memories. Mr. Panda is a great, simple book, perfect for reading aloud, with a great message.
I Spy Spooky Night by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo
A seek-and-find book of picture riddles. Spooky Night is set in and around an eerie mansion, filled with all kinds of fun items to find, like an eyeball, a pumpkin, 4 doves, and a rat; a skeleton, a yardstick, a screaming black cat!
Not bad for my first I Spy rhyme! The first video game I remember loving was I Spy Spooky Mansion, a computer game based on this book. A narrator would read the riddles and fun sound effects triggered when you clicked on the items. I was enamored with it! It was so cool to play a game that was just like the book I read at school.
We just got in all of the I Spy titles at the library, and they’re being checked out fast!
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard
Christopher Robin has a toy bear he names Winnie-the-Pooh, and his father tells the two of them stories of their adventures together.
I have loved Winnie-the-Pooh ever since I got my first Pooh teddy bear at three years old. While I mostly grew up on the Disney version, the original book is just as sweet and wholesome. I dearly love that “Silly old bear.”
We have the first two original Milne books, Winnie-the-Pooh and A House at Pooh Corner, at the library, and I wholeheartedly recommend both!
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Jess Aarons makes friends with the weird new girl at school, Leslie Burke, and they go on adventures in Terabithia, a place right from their imaginations. After tragedy strikes, Jess has to come to grips with his loss to understand the strength Leslie gave him.
I can’t remember which movie was the first to make me cry. But this one was definitely the first to make me look at my mother in betrayal. Despite all of that, I did truly love the story. So much, that I begged her to buy me a copy of the book. I cried while reading it too. But I still carry the messages of love and friendship, moving on after grief, and the importance of remembering all the best parts of a person, with me.
So grab a box of tissues, take a deep breath, and give it a try yourself. We have the book and the movie at the library, so you can try both like I did.
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
When Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist, discovers the secret of life, and then promptly abandons it, he must contend with the monster he created. But was the creature destined for evil by his biology? Or is he just the victim of a failed parenthood? And when Victor is driven to the brink, who becomes the monster in the end?
I read this book for a Gothic Literature class in college. With The Munsters in mind, you might not think it scary at all. But Shelley’s original story has its fair share of terrifying moments. A pioneer for both Horror and Science Fiction, the book is a must read for fans of either genre. Who is the monster and who is the man? Trick question. They’re both monsters.
At least according to me. Read it for yourself and see if you agree. We’ve got two versions of this book at the library.
Circe by Madeline Miller
An amazing retelling of Circe (sir-see), the formidable sorceress from the Odyssey. Who is Circe? What was she like before she met Odysseus and turned his men into pigs? What happened after?
This might be my favorite book of all time. I loved Miller’s The Song of Achilles dearly, but Circe just spoke to me in a whole different way. The mythological elements are deftly woven into an intricate story of identity, self-worth, and self-empowerment. In a story with gods and monsters, it’s really about what it means to be human.
“Circe, he says, it will be alright… He does not mean that we are not frightened. Only that: we are here. This is what it means to swim in the tide, to walk the earth and feel it touch your feet. This is what it means to be alive.”
