The year is flying by, and April showers bring a fresh set of reading prompts. This month we’ll read books starring an animal as a main character, and since Earth Day is this month, we’ll read a book where climate change plays a role in the plot.

As always, the books listed are merely suggestions, and you are not limited to only the books I have listed. Also, I haven’t read all of the suggested books. Some of them I pulled from other reader’s lists because the synopsis sounded interesting. Do your due diligence to check trigger warnings, etc before jumping in. Happy reading!

Since spring is upon us, the animals who have been hibernating are coming out of hiding. This is also when we tend to see a lot of new baby animals being born in the wild. In honor of these beautiful creatures, how about we read a book that features an animal as a main character? (And no, werewolves don’t count.)

Here are a few examples:

And a few more:

• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (Fantasy)
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (Middle Grade Fantasy)
• The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy (Contemporary Fiction)
• The Bees by Laline Paul (Dystopian Fiction)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell (Dystopian Fiction)
• A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron (Contemporary Fiction/Emotional)

In honor of earth day, how about we read a book where climate change plays a part in the overall plot. A few examples:

And a few others:

• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Love in the Time of Climate Change by Francesca Lia Block
• Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
• Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
• How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
• Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

For more reading prompts and to see my progress on these and other challenges check out this page.

If you’re playing along, don’t forget to tag your posts on Instagram or Threads using the #JRIA25 hashtag.

Happy reading!