Little Lost Bat

By Sandra Markle

Book Overview

A baby Mexican free-tailed bat clings to the ceiling of a crowded noisy cave, waiting for his mother to return from her daily hunting trip. After three days of searching and waiting, he is rescued by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157091656X
• ISBN13: 9781570916564
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.9" x 11.1"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Review from www.firrkids.com

This book really toes the line between fiction and non-fiction. Readers get a double dose by learning a host of interesting facts about bats and enjoying a heartwarming story. I was surprised by how engaging and endearing this book turned out to be. This is a lovely story about an animal that is typically seen as frightful or fearsome. This tale begins with a mother bat bringing her new baby into the world. There are million of bats in the cave, but each mother and baby pair have their own special calls with which to find and identify each other. Every night the mother bats venture out to hunt for food, each needing to eat nearly her own weight in insects to have energy for nursing. While out hunting one night, the mother bat is snatched up by an owl. Her baby cries and cries for her, his belly growling, but she does not return. The other female bats ignore his cries, until he is adopted by another mother who is searching for her own lost baby. The text spacing is unusual, but once you are accustomed to the layout, it feels poetic. Because of the subject matter, the backgrounds are the cave interiors or the night sky. As you can see by the sample pages, the illustrations are watercolors in deep blues and purples - absolutely gorgeous. The drawings of the little lost bat crying for his mother just tug at your heartstrings. All told - beautiful illustrations, great learning opportunities and a tender story make this a book we will read over and over again.

Heart-rending and hopeful

This is a tender, heart-rending tale of a new-born bat whose mother does not return to him. He is eventually adopted by another mother bat who cannot find her own baby. Much information about the Mexican free-tailed bat is presented, beautifully illustrated in subdued watercolors, pen and pencil. This is not a story to share in a large group - sad and intense for the young listeners. For instance, we see that the mother is taken by an owl. We are also informed that babies who drop to the floor of the cave are devoured by beetles. But there is a hopeful element, too. An author's note at the end of the book explains that as many as ten percent of bat mothers nurse babies that are not their own. There is also a list of additional resources and some facts about bats at the end as well. Hold your child and share this amazing story.

A wonderful story about love and loss

It says that this book is recommended for children Grades 2-4. I would think that the older kids would be the ones to truly 'get' it and it could fluster if not scare off the younger children if only because the story deals with a mother bat that is killed by an owl whilst her baby bat waits and waits in vain for its mother...until another mother finds it and keeps it safe. It is a very sad story, and needs delicacy in handling the subject matter, but children will need to learn about death/loss eventually and this is as good as any a book to discuss it, though I would recommend it to older kids. The illustrations [watercolor and ink] are beautiful. Also includes facts and numbers about bats, as well as annotated resources.

An Adoption Story

As an adoptive mother, I think this story beautifully tells the story of loss and healing in adoption. It was a little over the head of my 2 year old, but my 7 year old understood and was able to see how the story relates to our family.

A TOUCHING STORY BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED

While bats are not usually thought of as endearing creatures, they are as painted in watercolors by artist Alan Marks. A winner of the Carnegie Medal he does not resort to anthropomorphism but rather depicts the bats realistically with their wings a luminous violet hue and their claws sharply on the ready. His full-page illustrations will be enjoyed over and over again. Sandra Markle has created a touching story of a tiny Mexican free-tailed bat who is born in Bracken Cave in central Texas. He is as small "as a peanut in its shell," and the minute he is born at the roof of the cave his mother folds up her tail membrane to keep him from falling to the hungry beetles on the cave floor. This particular mother bat does not have a partner to help her so she must leave the cave to hunt for food for herself and her baby. She returns to the cave often to let her baby nurse and within a week he is beginning to grow fur. However, one night when she is out hunting she is caught by a barn owl. How a week old bat survives without his mother is at the center of this sad and hopeful story. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke