Bat Loves the Night (Read and Wonder Series) by Nicola Davies, Sarah Fox-Davies (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

"A charming and informative story about a pipistrelle bat. . . . Offers vivid descriptions of the animal's flight, its navigational skills, and
the hunt for food." — SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Night has fallen, and Bat awakens to find her evening meal. Follow her as she swoops into the shadows, shouting and flying, the echoes of her voice creating a sound picture of the world around her. When morning light creeps into the sky, Bat returns to the roost to feed her baby . . . and to rest until nighttime comes again. Bat loves the night!

Publishers Weekly

Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies, illus. by Sarah Fox-Davies, follows the pipstrelle bats' nocturnal wanderings. Dusky watercolor-and-pencil illustrations add enigmatic beauty; bat facts appear in a different typeface and illuminate the narrative. Pencil sketches on the endpapers label different kinds of bats with their common and scientific names. ( Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

Factual information is presented about bats, their nighttime activity of hunting and returning to feed their young, then their rest during the day. Davies brings this vividly alive in rich, descriptive language, as we follow one particular bat through a night. Additional brief facts are added in small print at the bottom of each page of larger type. The double pages are designed to describe the facts of nature within visually attractive, naturalistic scenes. Sarah Fox-Davies' detailed pencil drawings decorate the endpapers, with velvety watercolors added to the inside illustrations, helping us to sense the night. The index includes references to the information in both kinds of type. 2001, Candlewick Press, $15.99. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-A charming and informative story about a pipistrelle bat. With Fox-Davies's delicately detailed illustrations, the world of this tiny creature is truly brought to life. While the large-print story unfolds as the bat awakens and flies out into the night, the author also includes some scientific tidbits that appear in smaller type. Davies offers vivid descriptions of the animal's flight, its navigational skills, and the hunt for food. She explains how a bat's senses of hearing and smell are most important to its survival and how it cares for its young. This beautiful and fact-filled selection is distinguished by excellent writing and art.-Cynde Marcengill, formerly at Horry County Memorial Library, Surfside Beach, SC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Bat (a pipistrelle) wakes up, flies out into the night to eat, and returns home to feed her young. The narrative, in large type, gives much of the information about bats in a voice that can work as a read-aloud ("Gliding and fluttering back and forth, she shouts her torch of sound among the trees, listening for her supper"), while smaller type on some pages elaborates ("Using sound to find your way like this is called echolocation"). The watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, in browns and blues, hint of night, without being too dark. Close-up views of plants and animals show detail, while wider sweeping landscapes give context and a sense of space. The details of Bat's fur and face do justice to this mammal, which many young kids may still think of as "gross." This is useful as a very first introduction to bats, but readers will need to go farther to answer some questions (like what kinds of bats do eat "fruit, fish, frogs, even blood!"). And while there is an index of 15 terms, there is no bibliography. Nevertheless, this is a beautifully designed and thoughtfully executed informational storybook. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-7)

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