Julie Just
The rhyme scheme is not the smoothest…but it doesn't matter; the charm is all in the story itself.
—The New York Times
Kirkus Reviews
In this latest from Lies, it's all-deservingly-about the artwork. He brings a sure, expressive and transporting hand to this story of a colony of bats paying a nighttime visit to a small-town library. There is enough merriness here to keep the story bubbling, and young readers will certainly identify with some of the bats that have gotten a bit bored by the visit, as bats will do, and started monkeying around with the photocopier. There is a lovely image of a group of bats hanging around the rim of a reading lamp listening to a story; the peach-colored light illuminates the immediate vicinity while the rest of the library is shadowed and mysterious. The rhymed text, on the other hand, feels unmulled, leaving the artwork to do the heavy lifting. Pictures light-handedly capture the Cheshire Bat, Winnie the Bat and Little Red Riding Bat, only to be trumped by some ill-considered sermonizing-"But little bats will have to learn / the reason that we must return." Buy it for the pictures. (Picture book. 4-8)
From the Publisher
…the library-after-dark setting works a magic all its own, taking Lies and his audience to an intensely personal place.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Dark, inky acrylic paintings accompany a sprightly rhyming text, a wonderful sequel to 2006's completely charming Bats at the Beach." — Cleveland Plain Dealer
"These book-loving bats might encourage young readers to explore more stories on their own.” — San Antonio Express-News
"… appealing acrylic illustrations that teem with bats so charming they will even win over chiroptophobes." — Booklist
"In this latest from Lies, it's all-deservingly-about the artwork. He brings a sure, expressive and transporting hand to this story." — Kirkus Reviews
"...the charm is all in the story itself." — New York Times Book Review
AUGUST 2009 - AudioFile
What good fortune that a library window has been left open! The local bats take full advantage and swoop in to browse the stacks, copy themselves at the copier, and splash in the water fountain. Library instruction is given to the youngsters. Chris Sorenson narrates purposefully and carefully articulates Lies's poetry so that the listener can appreciate the tempo and rhyme. His elongated pauses beg for the listener to provide the next word. Best of all, his narration highlights the joy the bat youth find in reading. As night fades into dawn, the bats take their leave, hopeful of another such cure for nighttime boredom. A.R. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
