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| Bats at the Library written and illustrated by Brian Lies |
Book Summary:
Bats at the Library is an enchanting tale of bats who find an open window at the library and spend an evening enjoying all the library has to offer. The older bats gets right down to business, while the little bats brush up on their studies, and several bats enjoy some play time before they all settle down to story time. The bats become a part of the stories they are reading as the imagination runs wild, until eventually their time is up and the bats must leave the library. As they leave, they remember the experience with fondness and look forward to their next adventure in the library.
Bats at the Library is an enchanting tale of bats who find an open window at the library and spend an evening enjoying all the library has to offer. The older bats gets right down to business, while the little bats brush up on their studies, and several bats enjoy some play time before they all settle down to story time. The bats become a part of the stories they are reading as the imagination runs wild, until eventually their time is up and the bats must leave the library. As they leave, they remember the experience with fondness and look forward to their next adventure in the library.
Lies, B. (2008). Bats at the library. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
My Impressions:
This book is one of the most beautifully illustrated children's books I have seen recently. The colors were vivid and the drawings precise, and I was delighted to see the bats playing all around the library, making shadow puppets, splashing in the water fountain, and playing tag before settling in to spend some quality time with their favorite books. As I read this book to my niece we both became excited pointing out the bats as famous storybook characters such as Little Red Riding Hood. The sing-songy quality of the rhyming lines adds to the enjoyment of the reading experience, and I found myself wanting to read it again as soon as I was finished!
This book is one of the most beautifully illustrated children's books I have seen recently. The colors were vivid and the drawings precise, and I was delighted to see the bats playing all around the library, making shadow puppets, splashing in the water fountain, and playing tag before settling in to spend some quality time with their favorite books. As I read this book to my niece we both became excited pointing out the bats as famous storybook characters such as Little Red Riding Hood. The sing-songy quality of the rhyming lines adds to the enjoyment of the reading experience, and I found myself wanting to read it again as soon as I was finished!
Professional Review:
“Word spread quickly from afar…a window had been left ajar. Can it be true? Can it be? Yes, bat night at the library.” The bat families first introduced in Brian Lies’s Bats at the Beach (2006; Nutmeg Media, 2008) are back for a literary adventure in this iconographic rendering of the book (2008, both Houghton Mifflin). Once again, the youngsters are ready to play; viewers will delight at the imaginative mischief to be had at the library—puppet shadows on the wall with the overhead projector, swimming in the water fountain, posing in a gingerbread house pop-up book, and duplicating themselves with the copy machine. Finally tired out, the little ones join their elders for a magical story time, sitting in chairs, or hanging upside down from the tabletops. Children will be tickled to see scenes from some of their favorite books such as Make Way for Ducklings, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows, Pippi Longstocking, and others—all inhabited by bats. Background strings and high-pitched bat squeaks enhance the whimsical acrylics painted in warm, rich colors. In a conversation with the author, Lies shares his inspiration for the story. The setting is based on the library in the small town where his father grew up—a stone building with stained glass windows where, indeed, there was once a visiting bat. As Lies speaks, close-up stills allow viewers to notice the artwork’s clever details that they may have missed the first time around. The author also confides that another bat family outing is in the works—Bats at the Ball Game. –Barbara Auerbach, P.S. 217, Brooklyn, NY
Auerbach, B. [Review of the book Bats at the Library, by B. Lies]. (2010, Jan. 14).
Library Uses: This book would be an excellent story time book for younger children first being introduced to the library. Children could be invited to create their own shadow puppets, like the bats, using an overhead projector. It would also make a great addition to a unit about bats. Students can build their own paper airplane bats and "fly" them around the library (making sure to clean up before the sun come back up!)
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