WESTERN READS

BY AARON DOWNEY

Let’s just say that for whatever reason you are holed up and hiding out from society. You can only watch so much Netflix, right? Maybe it’s the perfect time to lose yourself in a new book!

You might want to start with Two Desperado: Stories by Susan Lowell, recent winner of the George Garrett Fiction Prize. This eclectic yet rooted collection will take you to familiar places you’ve never been, with favorite characters you’ve never met.

Did you know that the legendary pony express lasted less than two years? West Like Lightning: The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express by Jim DeFelice picks up in serious detail where most schooling and legends leave off. The history of the American West doesn’t get much better treatment than this book gives to one of our most compelling and fearless experiments.

Marta McDowell writes about authors and their gardens. Her latest book, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books, is a wonderful complement to Wilder’s canon. McDowell’s elaborations on those “tales of family and farms and nature” will please anyone who grew up (as I did) watching Little House on the Prairie.

Speaking of nature, I found some caterpillars in the yard the other day, and it reminded me of The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach. This book is a big, hysterical bait-and-switch. It promises to teach kids about metamorphosis, but it also cleverly sneaks in some knowledge about the one thing all kids can use: a little patience.

For the younger cowpokes, get them up to speed on their terminology with the brilliant board book, Cowboy. The book is actually a cutout shape of a kid cowboy, with cute illustrations and text. You might appreciate that the “boards” of the book are made of foam, making it much lighter and easier to hold than a traditional board book.

To borrow and distort a phrase from Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Please be patient with one another, share your hand sanitizer, and find some solace in the magic of literature.

Aaron Downey is the Managing Editor of Rio Nuevo Publishers, a division of Treasure Chest Books. Visit www.rionuevo.com Treasure Chest Book