Bats

Most of us think of bats in very negative terms. They are considered to be aggressive, filthy, disease carrying creatures who should be feared. Children may associate them with Halloween, haunted houses or scary dark caves, but not many people think of bats in a positive light. In Bats by Gail Gibbons, the author shows us that bats may not be the most pleasant creatures, but in a way they are actually our friends. If they weren't around to eat insects, we'd have way too many bugs crawling around us. Also, most of them are shy, gentle creatures. We learn about the different kinds of bats and their characteristics in this informative book. Most people don't know that there are about 1000 different varieties of bats: the smallest one weighs about one fourteenth of an ounce; the largest one weighs about two pounds. They live on every continent except Antarctica.

While there are no actual photographs of bats in this book, the color illustrations will be very interesting to children and make the bats seem a little less scary. I thought this was a good introduction to one of my least favorite mammals. Some of the illustrations were a little humorous and cartoonish, but the facts were presented in an engaging manner. It helps children to see that everything we hear about these creatures isn't necessarily true and that some of the ugliest animals actually serve a purpose in nature.

I would recommend this book for grades K-3. It would be a great supplement to a study on unusual animals.

Keywords associated with this book: bats, mammals, nocturnal creatures