1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 2005. AMAZING BATS. San Francisco: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587472615
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book explores the life of bats. It covers topics of interest such as species, homes, and eating habits. Facts are explained with accuracy and myths are debunked in this fascinating book on one of nature's most misunderstood creatures.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon is a well known and respected author of children's books on subjects such as animals, nature, and the planet. This book begins with the line "Bats are the only mammals that can fly", which is sure to pique the interest of young readers. In text that is clear, interesting, and simple, young readers are taken on an adventure into the world of the bat. There are facts of types of bats, their habitats, and winter hibernation or migration. Simon includes child friendly analogies to make the facts easy to understand. For example, after stating that "a little brown bat can eat about 600 bugs an hour", Simon writes "That's like you eating 20 pizzas a night!" This analogy not only explains exactly how much a brown bat eats, it adds humor to the text. This is a fact that will not only be remembered by the reader, but will surely be shared with family and friends.
This book is well organized. It introduces bats on the first page with the fun fact that the scientific name for bats means "hand wing." It then goes on to describe the number of species of bats, their habitats, eating habits and myths. The largest and smallest bats are described in both written and picture form. Each picture in this book is an actual photo of a bat. These photographs on every page show detail such as the teeth of the tiny Pipistrelle bat and the veins in the wings of the Gigantic Flying Fox. These photographs add visual information to the text and depict bats in many interesting ways from hanging upside down to hunting for food.
Simon writes with enthusiasm and will keep the interest of young readers. The vocabulary is at a level that young children will understand and be able to read independently. There are no reference aids, subheadings, or a table of contents included in this book. There is no need for these things because the book is very short with very little text written on each page. This makes the book very appropriate for young readers.
The theme of this book (in addition to the purpose of giving young readers facts about the life of bats) is one of teaching young children to respect and appreciate animals and nature. This theme is summed up in the last line of the book which reads "Bats don't harm people-they help them."
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book: "This book touches on bat habitat, migration, and feeding and dispels a few famous myths. The text does a good job of introducing some rather sophisticated scientific concepts (e.g., sonar, hibernation)."
School Library Journal: "Simon does a good job dispelling myths, adding trivia, and drawing readers in: [The pipistrelle] weighs less than two pennies and is only as long as your little finger."
5. CONNECTIONS:
*This book would be an excellent way to introduce bats to young students.
*Other books by Seymour Simon:
BABY ANIMALS. ISBN 1587171708
SPIDERS. ISBN 0060891041
*Other books about bats:
SCREECH! : A BOOK ABOUT BATS. by Melvin & Gilda Berger. ISBN 0439201640
Kessell, Walter. THE BILLIONS OF BATS. by Miriam Schlein. ISBN 0397319843
Simon, Seymour. 2005. AMAZING BATS. San Francisco: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587472615
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book explores the life of bats. It covers topics of interest such as species, homes, and eating habits. Facts are explained with accuracy and myths are debunked in this fascinating book on one of nature's most misunderstood creatures.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon is a well known and respected author of children's books on subjects such as animals, nature, and the planet. This book begins with the line "Bats are the only mammals that can fly", which is sure to pique the interest of young readers. In text that is clear, interesting, and simple, young readers are taken on an adventure into the world of the bat. There are facts of types of bats, their habitats, and winter hibernation or migration. Simon includes child friendly analogies to make the facts easy to understand. For example, after stating that "a little brown bat can eat about 600 bugs an hour", Simon writes "That's like you eating 20 pizzas a night!" This analogy not only explains exactly how much a brown bat eats, it adds humor to the text. This is a fact that will not only be remembered by the reader, but will surely be shared with family and friends.
This book is well organized. It introduces bats on the first page with the fun fact that the scientific name for bats means "hand wing." It then goes on to describe the number of species of bats, their habitats, eating habits and myths. The largest and smallest bats are described in both written and picture form. Each picture in this book is an actual photo of a bat. These photographs on every page show detail such as the teeth of the tiny Pipistrelle bat and the veins in the wings of the Gigantic Flying Fox. These photographs add visual information to the text and depict bats in many interesting ways from hanging upside down to hunting for food.
Simon writes with enthusiasm and will keep the interest of young readers. The vocabulary is at a level that young children will understand and be able to read independently. There are no reference aids, subheadings, or a table of contents included in this book. There is no need for these things because the book is very short with very little text written on each page. This makes the book very appropriate for young readers.
The theme of this book (in addition to the purpose of giving young readers facts about the life of bats) is one of teaching young children to respect and appreciate animals and nature. This theme is summed up in the last line of the book which reads "Bats don't harm people-they help them."
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book: "This book touches on bat habitat, migration, and feeding and dispels a few famous myths. The text does a good job of introducing some rather sophisticated scientific concepts (e.g., sonar, hibernation)."
School Library Journal: "Simon does a good job dispelling myths, adding trivia, and drawing readers in: [The pipistrelle] weighs less than two pennies and is only as long as your little finger."
5. CONNECTIONS:
*This book would be an excellent way to introduce bats to young students.
*Other books by Seymour Simon:
BABY ANIMALS. ISBN 1587171708
SPIDERS. ISBN 0060891041
*Other books about bats:
SCREECH! : A BOOK ABOUT BATS. by Melvin & Gilda Berger. ISBN 0439201640
Kessell, Walter. THE BILLIONS OF BATS. by Miriam Schlein. ISBN 0397319843
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