Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jama's Alphabet Soup.
For Poetry Friday -- "Bats at the Beach"
written and illustrated by Brian Lies.
"Quick, call out! Tell all
you can reach -- the moon is perfect for bats at the beach!"
This story in verse will have no
problem finding an appreciative audience. Lies takes the familiar fun of a day
at the beach and turns the experience upside down by imagining bats celebrating
a summer's night on an empty beach in the moonlight.
Detailed images highlight the fun
as bats young and old engage in a rich variety of experiences as they swoop
onto the beach with blankets, moon-tan lotion, and picnic baskets brimming with
pickled slugs and salted skeeters. A
busy night includes a chance to bury playmates in the sand, create toys out of
found objects, fly kites, hold wing-boat races, roast bug mallows, sing and
tell stories around a campfire and visit the deserted snack bar for bug treats
attracted to a glowing light bulb.
The story carries readers
effortlessly thought the night until the rising sun sends the bats winging
their way home at sunrise.
I use this book as a read-aloud
and it delights students with this twist on human activity and earns its share
of laughing groans for the "icky" moments. Young audiences also find plenty of minutiae to
identify as they give the illustrations a second and third look to discover the
many fine points that Lies brings to his art.
3 comments:
Thanks for the nice review! Will have to look for this one. :)
Judging from the cover, I think I'd get this one for the illustrations alone. What a fun take on a familiar subject.
Looks fun!
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