Bats at the Library

What good fortune that a library window has been left open! The local bats take full advantage and swoop in to browse the stacks, copy themselves at the copier, and splash in the water fountain. Library instruction is given to the youngsters. Chris Sorenson narrates purposefully and carefully articulates Lies's poetry so that the listener can appreciate the tempo and rhyme. His elongated pauses beg for the listener to provide the next word. Best of all, his narration highlights the joy the bat youth find in reading. As night fades into dawn, the bats take their leave, hopeful of another such cure for nighttime boredom. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 14, 2008
Lies's (Bats at the Beach
) much-lauded bats are back and the library's got them—thanks to a window left open by an unsuspecting (or perhaps sympathetic) librarian. Although the young ones initially misbehave (they make photocopies of their bodies and turn the water fountain into a splash pool), Lies cuts them a little slack: “It's hard to settle down and read/ when life flits by at dizzy speed.” Story time settles everyone (upside-)down, and soon the furry creatures are “completely swallowed up” in books, giving Lies comic license to bat-tify the signature visuals from classics like Make Way For Ducklings
; Pippi Longstocking
; Goodnight, Moon
and Peter Rabbit
. As with its predecessor, this book's richly detailed chiaroscuro paintings find considerable humor at the intersection where bat and human behavior meet. But the author/artist outdoes himself: the library-after-dark setting works a magic all its own, taking Lies and his audience to a an intensely personal place. Ages 4–8.