Week One: Books about reading : Bats at the Library

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
(Book cover image from amazon.com)

Bibliography: Lies, B. (2008). Bats at the library. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN: 978-0618999231

SUMMARY
Bored with their usual nightly activities, a group of bats discover that someone left the library window open. They converge on the building, soaring through the stacks, playing in the drinking fountain and exploring the worlds that exist within the pages of the books.

MY IMPRESSIONS
Bats at the Library is fabulous. The humorous illustrations capture the reader and help display the bat's love of reading and libraries. I especially enjoyed the bat on the cover, hugging a book in closed-eyed bliss. Both children and adults will catch the details within the drawings (like the bat with reading spectacles or the yellow "water wings" of the baby bat from Lies's previous book Bats at the Beach). The illustrations also add depth to the story, combining colorful and realistic bats, dynamic lines that lead the eye across the page and pleasing composition. Either the text or the illustrations relay the same message in Bats at the Library, but together, they create a winning combination. The text is lyrical and easy to understand, and the use of rhyming couplets helps propel the story along. Lies uses visual language ("Another inky evening's here...", "Eager wings beat autumn air...", "Other bats, in munchy moods...") to describe the active, swooping bats and their excitement of sneaking into the library. During their joyous romp, the bats spend the bulk of their evening reading books to each other. Lies uses two full pages, chock full of storybook characters in animal form, to show a sliver of the characters, adventures and magical universes that children can find just by opening the pages of a book.

ACTIVITIES
Amazon.com lists the reading level for Bats at the Library as three to eight, so this book would be perfect for a story time activity. The fun content and positive message of Bats at the Library make it an easy choice for promoting literacy, library usage or other reading related topics.

Recommend or read non-fiction books about nocturnal animals or creatures that are misrepresented as "dangerous" (like wolves, sharks, bees and spiders). Do a rhyme about bats (such as "Five Black Bats" by Shel Silverstein using a hand, hiding each finger as the bats go away).
Five black bats ready to soar
One stayed behind, now there are four.
Four black bats hanging from a tree
One fell down, now there are three.
Three black bats wondering what to do
One flew away and now there are two.
Two black bats sitting in the sun
One fell asleep leaving only one.
One lonesome bat, with no place to go
Went hiding in a cave, now there are zero.

Ask children where they would go in the library if they were exploring the building at night.

REVIEWS
"Starred Review. Lies's much-lauded bats are back and the library's got them--thanks to a window left open by an unsuspecting (or perhaps sympathetic) librarian. As with its predecessor, this book's richly detailed chiaroscuro paintings find considerable humor at the intersection where bat and human behavior meet. But the author/artist outdoes himself: the library-after-dark setting works a magic all its own, taking Lies and his audience to a an intensely personal place.
Publishers Weekly, July 14, 2008

"An open library window is an invitation for a colony of bats in this sequel to Bats at the Beach (2006). Once inside, older bats look for favorite books, while younger ones explore and play. Storytime settles everyone down and transports them into the tales, filled with bat characters playing new roles. The bat homage to classic children’s books includes titles like Goodnight Sun, while images such as Little Red Riding Bat will amuse children who are familiar with the originals. The rhymed narrative serves primarily as the vehicle for the appealing acrylic illustrations that teem with bats so charming they will even win over chiroptophobes."
Linda Perkins from BookList

“The creator of “Bats at the Beach” has brought his endearing band of flying mammals back for a nocturnal visit to the public library, a stimulating trip made possible by news that a window to the building has been left ajar. Brian Lies clearly has a passion for libraries and the world of wondrous treats that they have to offer, an enthusiasm he shares by way of his wonderfully sophisticated chiaroscuro paintings."
Worchester Telegram & Gazette News, September 7, 2008