Megabat

by Anna Humphrey, Kass Reich (Illustrator)

Overview

A sweet and hilarious chapter book about a boy and a bat, two unlikely friends who bond over loneliness, jellyrolls and Darth Vader.

Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It's big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it's haunted . . . or is it?

Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he's living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there.

Daniel realizes it's not a ghost in his new house. It's a bat. And he can talk. And he's actually kind of cute.

Megabat realizes that not every human wants to whack him with a broom. This one shares his smooshfruit.

Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a lightsaber and a common enemy and you've got a new friendship in the making!

This charming, funny story is brought to life by Kass Reich's warm and adorable illustrations. There's never been a bat this cute — readers will be rooting for Megabat and Daniel from page one!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735266957
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Series:	Megabat Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,015,229
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

ANNA HUMPHREY has worked in marketing for a poetry organization, in communications for the Girl Guides of Canada, as an editor for a webzine, as an intern at a decorating magazine and for the government. None of those was quite right, so she started her own freelance writing and editing business on top of writing for kids and teens. She lives in a big, old brick house in Kitchener, Ontario, with her husband and two kids and no bats. Yet.

KASS REICH was born in Montreal, Quebec. She works as an artist and educator and has spent the majority of the last decade traveling and living abroad. She now finds herself back in Canada, but this time in Toronto. Kass loves illustrating books for all ages, including Megabat, Megabat and Fancy Cat, Sergeant Billy, Carson Crosses Canada, Hamsters Holding Hands and Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest.

Read an Excerpt

Daniel Misumi hated his new house. He hated the vines that crept up the redbrick and the way the peaks over the upstairs windows looked like angry eyebrows. He hated the creaky floors and the weird wallpaper… but most of all, he hated his new attic bedroom—especially when he discovered a ghostly creature was living there.
Daniel’s first clue about the creature was the mysterious puddle at the top of the stairs.
“Oof!” he said, landing on his bum. It was moving day, and he’d been carrying a box of Lego. Pieces crashed to the floor and skittered under the furniture like beetles afraid of the light.
Daniel stood up and examined his wet shorts. “Mom!” he called. “There’s a puddle on my floor!”
Daniel found his mom in the bathroom. She was busy unpacking her bottles of relaxing bubble bath. “Just what we need.” She sighed. “A leak in the roof on our first day.”
Daniel’s father was summoned. He made grim faces at the ceiling and said things like “Welllllll…” and “Let’s see…” but no hole or crack was discovered.
“Maybe it’s not water,” Daniel said as they mopped up the puddle. “It could be corrosive liquid leaking from a rusty pipe.” In such an old house, he wouldn’t have been surprised.
Daniel eyed the ceiling suspiciously, but his dad just said they’d deal with it later.
So Daniel tried to put the puddle out of his mind, but later that night, when he was drifting off to sleep…
“Gots buttermelons? Hmmm?”
His eyes shot open.
“Buttermelons? Nope? None?”
The voice was small and quivering, and if he hadn’t been so terrified, Daniel might have noticed how filled with sadness it was.
He pulled the blankets over his head. At first it seemed to work. The room stayed silent for a long time. So long that Daniel almost convinced himself he’d imagined the whole thing.
“Buttermelons? Peeze! None? Nooooooooo.”
The voice came again, even more quivery than before. Plus, now there was a strange flapping sound.
Daniel sat up, turned on the bedside light and raised his arms in a fierce karate move. He looked around the room.

Editorial Reviews

One of Amazon.com's Best Children's Books of 2018
One of Fuse's Best Early Chapter Books of 2018
A Canadian Children’s Book News Bookseller Recommendation (Winter 2018)
One of Quill & Quire's Books of the Year 2018
One of Canadian Children's Book Centre’s Favourite Books of The Year 2018
The Oregon Library Association, 2021 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Awards (Winner)

PRAISE FOR Megabat:

“This talking fruit bat charms everyone he meets: a young boy named Daniel, a pigeon love interest, and discerning young readers.” —Quill & Quire

"The miscommunications between humans and a fruit bat are ridiculous yet funny, and Reich’s soft illustrations add further, gentle humor. . . . A charming tale." —Kirkus Reviews

"Megabat is a fast-paced novel that will have young readers wanting more. . . . [A] highly engaging read with hilarious capers, engaging characters, and gorgeous illustrations. . . . Recommended." —CM Magazine 

“ A warm tale . . . augmented by amusing graphite illustrations from [Kass] Reich.” —Publishers Weekly

"[Kass] Reich’s expressive black-and-white illustrations are filled with detail and texture, especially with Megabat’s delightful facial expressions, and help guide the story along. Great for readers who enjoy Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson books." —Booklist

"Megabat is a delightful story . . .  A must for any school or public library, especially as a read-aloud." —Resource Links

"This is the cutest story I’ve ever read. A great book for an early reader." —Story Monsters Ink

“When boy and bat get together, they come to understand one another and join forces against a common enemy in this lively story of Birdgirl, Megabat, Daniel, and their community.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

07/02/2018
Daniel hates his new house and misses the friends from his former hometown. But he cheers up after discovering that he’s sharing his attic bedroom with a talking fruit bat, Megabat, who was accidentally shipped to Canada from the Borneo rainforest in a box of papayas. Like Daniel, Megabat feels out of place and alone; as his tears create puddles on the floor, he explains, “A bat is dripping. From a great sadness.” Daniel introduces his new roommate to Star Wars movies and apple juice, and the bat becomes hooked on both, even fashioning a lightsaber from his juice-box straw. The boy enlists the help of his next-door neighbor, Talia, to return Megabat to Borneo, but multiple plans backfire. Augmented by amusing graphite illustrations from Reich (Carson Crosses Canada), Humphrey (the Clara Humble series) tells a story that intensifies when Megabat falls in love with the pigeon who saves his life, cementing his decision to stay in Canada and precipitating, in Megabat speak, “a muchly happy ending.” The winged hero of this warm tale returns in Megabat and Fancy Cat, due out next April. Ages 7–10. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2018
Gr 2–4—Daniel misses his old home in Toronto, and as he settles into his new house, he finds that his attic bedroom comes with a seemingly ghostly roommate. The whispering voice in the attic belongs to a talking, homesick fruit bat whose tearful "drippings" are causing puddles in the upper story of the house. When Daniel researches fruit bats at the library, he gives his friend the superhero name Megabat. Daniel introduces his new friend to Star Wars and crafts a fruit bat-size lightsaber out of a bendy straw. Daniel makes it his mission to help Megabat get back home to the tropical rain forests of Borneo. They unexpectedly recruit Talia, Daniel's neighbor, to help in this endeavor which proves to be more difficult as plan after plan falls apart. Meanwhile, Talia's brother Jamie cruelly bothers the pigeons in their neighborhood and brings misery to the friends after he learns of Megabat. While the story is simple and the bat-speak dialogue can be somewhat tedious, early readers will enjoy the happy ending in this story of finding friendship in unlikely places. VERDICT A good choice for chapter book shelves.—Jamie Jensen, Wayne Cox Elementary School, Roanoke, TX

School Library Journal

2018-04-16
Daniel must find a way to get a talking bat back to its home country while evading his tattletale next-door neighbor.Daniel Misumi has just moved into an old, creaky, and possibly haunted house. He hears a disembodied voice, and strange puddles keep appearing on the floor. Fortunately for Daniel, it's not a ghost but a talking fruit bat, which he names Megabat. It seems that Megabat was napping on a papaya when it was picked and crated to be shipped across the world. Now he's living in Daniel's house, sad and alone. With the help of Talia, his neighbor, Daniel devises a way to mail Megabat back. When that fails, and Talia's annoying little brother threatens to expose them, the two friends must find a way to get Megabat home quickly. As the story evolves, Megabat and Daniel become friends, and Megabat finds a pigeon companion, Birdgirl. The story touches on familiar topics such as struggling to make new friends, moving to a new place, missing home, and animal care. The miscommunications between humans and a fruit bat are ridiculous yet funny, and Reich's soft illustrations add further, gentle humor. Many readers may find the ending abrupt and a romantic subplot unnecessary, but they can't help but enjoy the talking bat and scatological references. Daniel's Japanese heritage is indicated by his name; Talia presents white.A charming tale. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews