Big Brown Bat
Grade 1–3—One summer evening, when "the sky belongs to night creatures," brown bats swarm from a farmhouse attic, leaving behind one bat who soon gives birth. Simple explanations and realistic paintings follow the young bat through the summer weeks of growing to maturity. It's the birthing season, and several babies now huddle for warmth through the night, crying for the return of their mothers. Before long the featured youngster is ready to fly and fumbles through his first attempts to master hunting. There's a bit of explanation of bat physiology and more emphasis on the animal's use of sound to identify food and communicate. As fall comes, the bats depart from the farmhouse to roost in an underground cave to hibernate before beginning the cycle once more. Why don't they stay in their warm, safe attic? No explanation is offered, though a concluding page gives a bit more information about the species, including its actual modest size—belied here in some of the enlarged close-up views. The book is a competent, if sketchy, introduction to this common U.S./Canadian bat, and it will certainly attract readers. Since bats have been widely covered in both picture books and nonfiction titles for children, libraries should select this title as needed.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, BostonCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.