MotherReader

At the end of May, the children’s librarians in my county enter the public schools to tantalize the students with the Summer Reading List choices. I was not on the committee to select the books this year, but I did urge the committee to consider certain titles. So as I prepare to book talk to hundreds of kids, I’ll share here what I’m bringing there.

Many years ago my older daughter went through a bat stage. It involved us reading bat books, owning bat beanie babies, and visiting the bat house at the National Zoo. So while I personally am not a huge bat fan, I do have a soft spot in my heart for them.

Then along comes Bats at the Beach, combining these flying rodents with my favorite vacation spot. It’s a cute book, but it’s more than just cute. There are the legs sticking out from the marshmallow to be toasted on a stick. There’s the image of the bats flying to the beach with their tote bags and umbrellas (for the moon, I guess) gripped in their feet. It’s the picture of the bat buried in the sand and the bat friends making a bird sculpture out of him. The text is cute, but the pictures are very, very clever. And very, very fun.

I’ll be reading Bats at the Beach to the kindergartners, with maybe a little beach or bat introduction.