Bats at the Beach
by
Brian Lies
It is part of the Bat Books series and is a fantasy, picture book in Hardcover edition that was published by HMH Books for Young Readers on May 8, 2006 and has 32 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Bats in the Library
Part of the Bat Books series and revolving around families of bats.
My Take
I love that start: “bats pour out with shrieks of laughter”. Don’cha know…just like our own kids.
Lies has an easy rhythm to his rhymes, as he sets out all the paraphernalia that people would also take to the beach. Okay, so, maybe not the moon-tan lotion… It’d make a good opportunity with the kids to compare what the bats take to what you might take.
As well as those beach activities with sleepy old bats kicking back in lawn chairs. Kids building sand caves and playing volleyball. Making new friends, although, I think I’ll pass on trading for treats. Dang, I am jealous though, about the wing-boat racing.
I know it’s hard to believe that bats could look so cute, but Lies does it. Makes me want to cuddle one up.
You definitely want to read this. Lies’ pictures are so much fun and will give you and the kids a lot to laugh about, and a lot to explore.
The Story
It’s a day, er, a night at the beach for families young and old and just a bit of a twist on those surf-and-sand activities.
The Characters
Families of bats from oldsters to youngsters.
The Cover and Title
As befits a bat’s idea of the best time to be awake, the cover is a night scene at the beach with a whole colony of bats having fun. Foremost is a bat wearing a life vest and holding a stick with the ickiest looking roast marshmallow with spider legs sticking out the sides — a bug-mallow! Shifting left, partway back is another bat surfing a wave while two more bats (you can barely see them, so far down that hole they are) who are shoveling away with a turquoise spade, a yellow shovel and blue sand bucket discarded at the side. Standing in front of an old wire-held paling fence is another bat dressed in green swim trunks with big yellow polka dots who is flying a, yes, a bat kite. Further down the beach, a bat is sitting under a pink cocktail umbrella reading a book while three more bats are flying in the air. The title is in a gradated gold from dark to light, angled in the top left corner while the author’s name is barely visible at the bottom in the same blue of the sky.
The title is a night for the Bats at the Beach.
