Bats at the Beach

A family of bats heads to the beach. They bring their moon-tan lotion, bat kites, and salted skeeters for their picnic. This rhyming text and the cute illustrations, make a great book for grades K - 2. ( )

(Easy picture book, poetic verse)Bat families and bat friends anxiously await for night to come so they can take off to the beach for a night of adventure together. The bats partake in human activities such as picnicking on the beach, singing around a bonfire, flying kites, and burying each other in the sand. This book was fun to read and the children, as I, loved the illustrations. Much imaginative talk ensued when I pointed out to the children the things the bats were doing on the beach. They especially loved when I verbalized details to them in the drawings,as there is much going on in the illustrations. They were especially intrigued by the idea of the bats using "moon-tan" lotion and hanging out at the "snack bar" (an illuminated bulb that attracted many insects to nosh on). The flow of the text lends itself to a fast-paced read that brought smiles to the children's faces. ( )

A story about what bats do at night. It is fun and humorous for the young children. It includes crazy things like what bats eat at the beach and what they do there. ( )

Generally we don't think of beaches as nighttime scenes, but when bats are the main characters that's when a day at the beach begins! Roasting marshmallows and tubing in dark waters brings a fun twist to the usual beach day activities. Story-length poem.

The quintessential family trip to the beach gets a batty spin in Brian Lies’ Bats at the Beach. The same group of bats from Bats at the Library return, only this time they are taking a trip to the beach, where they partake in all of the activities that are normal for humans—with a few twists. The bats pack up everything from the beach umbrellas to their banjos, and fly to the ocean. Once there, they play with objects left behind by humans (such as using straws as pretend swords), bury each other in sand, make friends with other bats visiting the beach, and take turns “being” kites. Older bats bask in the glow of the moon, and there is even a picnic complete with all sorts of bat-appropriate foods, such as “bug-mallows.” The poetic prose also warns not to forget the “moon-tan lotion.”
Lies also illustrated this playful beach party, and no detail gets past him. The bats look amazingly small compared to the human elements of the illustrations, giving us the bats’ point of view. There are also such details as a bag of “Skeeter Krisps” and miniature banjo cases. The bats are adorable, yet realistic enough that readers would not be shocked if they went to see the real thing at a zoo. Lies also fits in a couple other species of bats in this installment of his series, and they also have the appropriate look. Children will find themselves agreeing with the bats when they say, “How delicious—oh, how sweet, to feel the sand beneath our feet.” A perfect read for having a conversation about what to do on a trip to the beach, or to read at the beach itself, Bats at the Beach is recommended for grades Pre-K-4. ( )