Bat's Big Game

by Margaret Read MacDonald, Eugenia Nobati (Illustrator)

Overview

The Animals and Birds are getting ready for the big game. Bat wants to WIN. The Animals look strong and fast, so Bat picks that side. But when the Animals fall behind, Bat switches to the Bird team—doesn't a bat have wings? Maybe the Birds will win!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807592342
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	03/01/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Margaret Read MacDonald is a children's librarian turned storyteller who travels the world sharing tales. Her many picture book retellings include The Boy from the Dragon Palace, Little Rooster’s Diamond Button, and Mabela the Clever. When not traveling, she lives near Seattle, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

When the Animals and the Birds square off for a soccer match, Bat decides that he wants to be on the winning side. But which one is that? The Animals look bigger and stronger, so Bat, showing off his teeth and fur, throws in his lot with them at first-but then switches when the Birds take over the lead. When the score changes again he tries to switch back, and gets thrown off both teams because "a good player sticks with the team . . . even when they are losing." Off goes Bat to practice by himself, and to reflect on his values. Stylized but easily identifiable, the rubber-limbed animals in Nobati's digitally generated illustrations sport team jerseys and dash energetically about a rustic pitch, showing a visual energy that reflects the author's characteristically quick-cadenced telling. Joseph Bruchac's Native American rendition, The Great Ball Game (1994), illustrated by Susan L. Roth, is the best known version of this tale, but MacDonald's reworking is substantially different and based on antecedents from several continents and traditions. (source note) (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews