Little Lost Bat

August 7, 2006
Markle (the Outside and Inside series) turns her attention to the Mexican free-tailed bat set in central Texas's Bracken Cave, a nursery cave home only to female bats and their babies. "Even though the rock cave is as huge/ as a cathedral, it's steamy hot/ from the body heat of/ millions of female bats." The descriptive narrative immerses readers in this intimate setting, as it describes one bat's birth and early days. Markle sugarcoats nothing, least of all the predator-prey relationships. A lurking snake "snags a baby bat for dinner." The mother of the title bat traps and eats a moth, only to become a barn owl's supper a week later. Readers might be surprised at this turn of events, given previous snuggly nursing scenes. ("For three days and nights, he searches/ and cries for her to find him.") Marks, who collaborated with Markle on A Mother's Journey
, provides realistic, elegant watercolor-and-ink paintings; their dusky blues and purples mirror some of the nocturnal subject's mystery. Many scenes glow with an almost translucent effect from the moon. Audiences will be somewhat comforted when a mother that has lost her own baby adopts the orphaned bat. Author notes, resources and additional bat facts wrap up this informative, moving nature exploration. Ages 6-9.

Starred review from August 1, 2006
Gr 1-4 -A little bat is born in a cave with millions of other female bats and their young. The fight for survival is apparent from his first moments of life -predators threaten the powerless infant from all sides. Drama ensues over a week later when his mother dies at the claws of a barn owl, and the baby goes hungry for several days. However, he is ultimately saved by a mother bat who has lost her baby and is searching for a new mouth to feed. Markle incorporates many facts about the Mexican free-tailed bats in a natural manner. These facts enhance the story, but don -t get in the way of the compelling plot. Listeners will learn quite a bit about bats and their first days. Marks -s illustrations bring out the rich colors of the night and give a sense of the immensity of the world as compared to the tiny baby bat. A compelling way to learn about these fascinating creatures." -Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2006
Gr. 2-4. Through the story of one newborn bat that loses its mother, this beautiful picture book brings close the incredible facts about the more than 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats that live in a cave close to Austin, Texas. When the baby bat is born ("naked-pink and tiny as a peanut in its shell"), it crawls onto its mother, and, tucked beneath her wing, it nurses, "clinging to her fur / with tiny hooked claws." Every night the mother races out to gorge on insects, then returns to nurse her little baby. One night, she is killed by an owl, and the little bat waits and waits. Finally a new mother finds the baby and takes over the role of keeping it safe. The lucid free verse tells the elemental nature drama, and Marks' beautiful double-page watercolors with delicate ink details are equally effective at depicting the expansive blue sky and the tiny, furry brown baby, alone and then cuddled up safely at last. Back matter includes annotated resources, and amazing facts and numbers about bats that are as dramatic as the story. Children will want to go on from this to Markle's " Outside and Inside Bats" (2004) and Markle and Marks' " Mother's Journey" (2005)" . \i0 (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)