The premise of this series is that Elise Gravel takes creatures commonly thought of as "gross" or "scary" and writes a cute, informative comic to give young readers a different viewpoint. This book, featuring a cute bat with overhanging teeth and big eyes, introduces the bat by his scientific name, "chiroptera" and then goes on to cover parts of the bat's life cycle, diet, and habitat. The bat runs into the fly, from a previous book, but reassures them that they're a vegetarian bat, as we learn that some bats eat insects and some prefer fruit. Readers learn about a bat's hibernation, as a snoring bat annoys a hibernating bear. There's a goofy reference to Batman, a PSA about not touching bats, who may carry diseases, and some final notes on the good bats do for the environment and the challenges they face.
Elise Gravel's goofy and distinctive illustrations make this an attractive book for intermediate readers, adding a dash of humor to the information included on each page. It is a more complex text, with challenging words and sentences, although each page has only a few sentences. I generally recommend these to readers who are transitioning to chapter books or older readers looking for something that won't feel too "babyish" but isn't too challenging.
Verdict: Fans of the series will be delighted with this latest installation, and bat fans will be excited to discover a new, and funny, book about their favorite animal. Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment