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Bat Books #1
Bats at the Beach
From Caldecott honor – winning and New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Brian Lies, a charming and lyrical beachy read perfect for summertime—or anytime. The first of many nighttime adventures with the award-winning Bat Book series.
Quick, call out! Tell all you can the night is just perfect for bats at the beach!
So pack your buckets, banjos, and blankets—don’t forget the moon-tan lotion—and wing with this bunch of fuzzy bats to where foamy sea and soft sand meet.
Brian Lies’s enchanting art and cheery beachside verse will inspire bedtime imaginations again and again. Come visit a bedazzling world of moonlight, firelight, and . . . bats!
Check out brianlies.com for more escapades with these zany bats.
Quick, call out! Tell all you can the night is just perfect for bats at the beach!
So pack your buckets, banjos, and blankets—don’t forget the moon-tan lotion—and wing with this bunch of fuzzy bats to where foamy sea and soft sand meet.
Brian Lies’s enchanting art and cheery beachside verse will inspire bedtime imaginations again and again. Come visit a bedazzling world of moonlight, firelight, and . . . bats!
Check out brianlies.com for more escapades with these zany bats.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published April 12, 2006
18 people are currently reading
1018 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lies
46 books157 followersI was born in 1963 in Princeton, New Jersey, which back then was a quiet college town, surrounded by old farmland slowly giving way to housing developments. I spent a lot of time building dams and forts in the woods across the street with my best friend, inventing things, and writing and drawing with my older sister. At various times during my childhood, we had newts, gerbils and rabbits as pets. When I was in fifth grade, an author and illustrator visited my school, and I was amazed that one could have a job writing and drawing. I wished it could be my job! But I didn’t think I was good enough at either writing or drawing to even try.
I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with oil paints and made stained glass windows. I actually sold some, too—my first taste of self-employment. I went to Brown University after high school, where I studied Psychology and British and American Literature. I began to think about what I really wanted to do for a career, and what I really wanted was something that involved art. So after graduation from college in 1985, I moved to Boston to study drawing and painting at the Boston Museum School (also known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
At the Museum School, I started getting paintings in exhibitions and won a few prizes, and then was able to get political illustrations published in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.
Suddenly I had a career as an editorial and political illustrator, working with a lot of magazines and newspapers. In 1989, I illustrated my first book, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, with Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston.
Since then, I've illustrated some twenty books, including my newest one, Bats at the Library, which I also wrote. My other three written-and-illustrated books to date are the New York Times bestseller, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite, and Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle.
I also get lots of work published in Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug magazines, and I enjoy visiting schools to work with students on writing and illustrating stories.
I live in a seaside town in Massachusetts with my wife, my daughter, two cats and a hamster. My hobbies are bicycling, woodworking, and tending a big vegetable garden behind the house. I’m very interested in old-fashioned food preparation, too, and sometimes make my own cheese, kimchi and other things (including a drink called switchel, which I kind of liked but which everybody else in my family thought was nasty).
I also read a lot, which I think is important—it keeps my imagination going, and leaves me feeling much more relaxed than television does!
I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with oil paints and made stained glass windows. I actually sold some, too—my first taste of self-employment. I went to Brown University after high school, where I studied Psychology and British and American Literature. I began to think about what I really wanted to do for a career, and what I really wanted was something that involved art. So after graduation from college in 1985, I moved to Boston to study drawing and painting at the Boston Museum School (also known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
At the Museum School, I started getting paintings in exhibitions and won a few prizes, and then was able to get political illustrations published in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.
Suddenly I had a career as an editorial and political illustrator, working with a lot of magazines and newspapers. In 1989, I illustrated my first book, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, with Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston.
Since then, I've illustrated some twenty books, including my newest one, Bats at the Library, which I also wrote. My other three written-and-illustrated books to date are the New York Times bestseller, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite, and Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle.
I also get lots of work published in Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug magazines, and I enjoy visiting schools to work with students on writing and illustrating stories.
I live in a seaside town in Massachusetts with my wife, my daughter, two cats and a hamster. My hobbies are bicycling, woodworking, and tending a big vegetable garden behind the house. I’m very interested in old-fashioned food preparation, too, and sometimes make my own cheese, kimchi and other things (including a drink called switchel, which I kind of liked but which everybody else in my family thought was nasty).
I also read a lot, which I think is important—it keeps my imagination going, and leaves me feeling much more relaxed than television does!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews
February 9, 2016
A bunch of bats go to the beach at night.
The story is told in rhyme:
Or sailing to terrific heights,
taking turns at being kites.
Little bats dig their sand caves deep,
as old bats lie in the moon, asleep.
This book is very dark. No, I'm not talking about the subject matter, I'm talking about this taking place at night and being a very dark book to read. It's like watching the Batman movies starring Michael Keaton. Everything is dark. Sometimes you have to strain your eyes to tell what is going on in a scene.
The other thing about these books is that they hinge on how 'human' like the bats are. For instance, they do all human things but with a twist. They fly EACH OTHER as kites instead of flying kites. The grown-ups lie in the moon, instead of soaking up the sun. The children build sand caves instead of sandcastles. They wear moon-tan lotion. They pack a picnic:
Now it's munchtime; what's to eat?
Baskets groan with yummy treats.
Beetles, ants, and milkweed bugs,
crickets, moths and pickled slugs.
Damselflies, or salted 'skeeters -
no room HERE for picky eaters!
They roast marshmallows with grasshoppers stuck inside them. They eat 'dessert' at the 'snack bar' (read: catch moths in the snack truck that are flying around a light bulb). Etc, etc.
http://anakalianwhims.files.wordpress...
The kids liked this. I liked it too, although I wish the pictures had been a little more well-lit.
Tl;dr – Bats go to the beach and do human things with a bat twist. Dark pictures. Rhyming text.
The story is told in rhyme:
Or sailing to terrific heights,
taking turns at being kites.
Little bats dig their sand caves deep,
as old bats lie in the moon, asleep.
This book is very dark. No, I'm not talking about the subject matter, I'm talking about this taking place at night and being a very dark book to read. It's like watching the Batman movies starring Michael Keaton. Everything is dark. Sometimes you have to strain your eyes to tell what is going on in a scene.
The other thing about these books is that they hinge on how 'human' like the bats are. For instance, they do all human things but with a twist. They fly EACH OTHER as kites instead of flying kites. The grown-ups lie in the moon, instead of soaking up the sun. The children build sand caves instead of sandcastles. They wear moon-tan lotion. They pack a picnic:
Now it's munchtime; what's to eat?
Baskets groan with yummy treats.
Beetles, ants, and milkweed bugs,
crickets, moths and pickled slugs.
Damselflies, or salted 'skeeters -
no room HERE for picky eaters!
They roast marshmallows with grasshoppers stuck inside them. They eat 'dessert' at the 'snack bar' (read: catch moths in the snack truck that are flying around a light bulb). Etc, etc.
http://anakalianwhims.files.wordpress...
The kids liked this. I liked it too, although I wish the pictures had been a little more well-lit.
Tl;dr – Bats go to the beach and do human things with a bat twist. Dark pictures. Rhyming text.
March 30, 2020
As I write this review, the world is in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. I work in health & human services so I'm still reporting to work, but my husband and son are home "sheltering in place'' as directed. It's stressful. It's weird. It's scary.
These are the times when children's books are magical escapes. I love the innocent, cute stories...the artwork....the loveliness of a story written for children. Even at 51 years old, I can still absolutely adore a happy, simple story! :)
I checked out both the print and audio book for this title from my local library (kudos to libraries who have increased their digital catalogs, online services and checkout limits to help everyone through this tough time). I just felt the need to have a book read to me! :) And -- I LOVED IT!!! It was like library story hour for grandma tonight. :) A cup of coffee and a good story -- just what I needed!
This story is so cute! Night falls....and bats all make their way to the beach to have fun in the moonlight! The artwork is wonderful! This would be a fun story to read in a classroom setting or at home. The art and rhyming text will definitely keep kids' attention!
The audio book version of this story is about 6.5 minutes long. Narrated by Chris Sorensen, the audio would be a great way for kids to have the book read to them, or combined with the physical book so early readers can follow along. Sorensen reads with great energy. Definitely an entertaining listening experience!
These are the times when children's books are magical escapes. I love the innocent, cute stories...the artwork....the loveliness of a story written for children. Even at 51 years old, I can still absolutely adore a happy, simple story! :)
I checked out both the print and audio book for this title from my local library (kudos to libraries who have increased their digital catalogs, online services and checkout limits to help everyone through this tough time). I just felt the need to have a book read to me! :) And -- I LOVED IT!!! It was like library story hour for grandma tonight. :) A cup of coffee and a good story -- just what I needed!
This story is so cute! Night falls....and bats all make their way to the beach to have fun in the moonlight! The artwork is wonderful! This would be a fun story to read in a classroom setting or at home. The art and rhyming text will definitely keep kids' attention!
The audio book version of this story is about 6.5 minutes long. Narrated by Chris Sorensen, the audio would be a great way for kids to have the book read to them, or combined with the physical book so early readers can follow along. Sorensen reads with great energy. Definitely an entertaining listening experience!
July 13, 2010
Not sure why I didn't like this one more but I just can't bring myself to give it more than three stars. The pictures are nice and fun and the rhymes are okay if a bit awkward at times. I guess maybe I just don't understand why the "Bats" books get so much hype whereas other (better, IMO) picture books go out-of-print, so perhaps it's just a pet peeve of mine interfering with what would otherwise be an amusing little story.
June 15, 2011
I’ve read Bats at the Library and really enjoyed it, and this is one of the nominated books for July’s sea side/ocean them at the Picture Books Club over at the Children's Books group. I don’t know yet if this book will be selected, but as soon as I was aware of it I reserved it at the library and read it when it arrived, even though no libraries are involved, and I love libraries.
On the inside back cover I love how readers find out that a portion of the proceeds of this book are being donated to Bat Conservation International, and that the author enjoying watching bats in their natural habitats where they live. He’s obviously a bat appreciator.
The beach at night: hilarious and highly unusual.
The illustrations are fabulous, appropriately dark given that the scenes are outdoor night scenes, but ghoulish: all those bugs being eaten. I can’t say I loved many of them because I can be squeamish, but they are special and they are what make the book special.
The rhyme that makes up the story is good, though the bugs being eaten also get plenty of mention, but so do all sorts of familiar beach activities.
I enjoyed this but think some children might be scared by pictures and/or story, and some readers of all ages might feel revulsion, yet I suspect many children and adults will think that this book is a great deal of fun.
And, I love any books about bats where there is no mention of rabies!
On the inside back cover I love how readers find out that a portion of the proceeds of this book are being donated to Bat Conservation International, and that the author enjoying watching bats in their natural habitats where they live. He’s obviously a bat appreciator.
The beach at night: hilarious and highly unusual.
The illustrations are fabulous, appropriately dark given that the scenes are outdoor night scenes, but ghoulish: all those bugs being eaten. I can’t say I loved many of them because I can be squeamish, but they are special and they are what make the book special.
The rhyme that makes up the story is good, though the bugs being eaten also get plenty of mention, but so do all sorts of familiar beach activities.
I enjoyed this but think some children might be scared by pictures and/or story, and some readers of all ages might feel revulsion, yet I suspect many children and adults will think that this book is a great deal of fun.
And, I love any books about bats where there is no mention of rabies!
July 6, 2017
Part of the Bat Books series and revolving around families of bats.
My Take
I love that start: “bats pour out with shrieks of laughter”. Don’cha know…just like our own kids.
Lies has an easy rhythm to his rhymes, as he sets out all the paraphernalia that people would also take to the beach. Okay, so, maybe not the moon-tan lotion… It’d make a good opportunity with the kids to compare what the bats take to what you might take.
As well as those beach activities with sleepy old bats kicking back in lawn chairs. Kids building sand caves and playing volleyball. Making new friends, although, I think I’ll pass on trading for treats. Dang, I am jealous though, about the wing-boat racing.
I know it's hard to believe that bats could look so cute, but Lies does it. Makes me want to cuddle one up.
You definitely want to read this. Lies’ pictures are so much fun and will give you and the kids a lot to laugh about, and a lot to explore.
The Story
It’s a day, er, a night at the beach for families young and old and just a bit of a twist on those surf-and-sand activities.
The Characters
Families of bats from oldsters to youngsters.
The Cover and Title
As befits a bat’s idea of the best time to be awake, the cover is a night scene at the beach with a whole colony of bats having fun. Foremost is a bat wearing a life vest and holding a stick with the ickiest looking roast marshmallow with spider legs sticking out the sides — a bug-mallow! Shifting left, partway back is another bat surfing a wave while two more bats (you can barely see them, so far down that hole they are) who are shoveling away with a turquoise spade, a yellow shovel and blue sand bucket discarded at the side. Standing in front of an old wire-held paling fence is another bat dressed in green swim trunks with big yellow polka dots who is flying a, yes, a bat kite. Further down the beach, a bat is sitting under a pink cocktail umbrella reading a book while three more bats are flying in the air. The title is in a gradated gold from dark to light, angled in the top left corner while the author’s name is barely visible at the bottom in the same blue of the sky.
The title is a night for the Bats at the Beach.
My Take
I love that start: “bats pour out with shrieks of laughter”. Don’cha know…just like our own kids.
Lies has an easy rhythm to his rhymes, as he sets out all the paraphernalia that people would also take to the beach. Okay, so, maybe not the moon-tan lotion… It’d make a good opportunity with the kids to compare what the bats take to what you might take.
As well as those beach activities with sleepy old bats kicking back in lawn chairs. Kids building sand caves and playing volleyball. Making new friends, although, I think I’ll pass on trading for treats. Dang, I am jealous though, about the wing-boat racing.
I know it's hard to believe that bats could look so cute, but Lies does it. Makes me want to cuddle one up.
You definitely want to read this. Lies’ pictures are so much fun and will give you and the kids a lot to laugh about, and a lot to explore.
The Story
It’s a day, er, a night at the beach for families young and old and just a bit of a twist on those surf-and-sand activities.
The Characters
Families of bats from oldsters to youngsters.
The Cover and Title
As befits a bat’s idea of the best time to be awake, the cover is a night scene at the beach with a whole colony of bats having fun. Foremost is a bat wearing a life vest and holding a stick with the ickiest looking roast marshmallow with spider legs sticking out the sides — a bug-mallow! Shifting left, partway back is another bat surfing a wave while two more bats (you can barely see them, so far down that hole they are) who are shoveling away with a turquoise spade, a yellow shovel and blue sand bucket discarded at the side. Standing in front of an old wire-held paling fence is another bat dressed in green swim trunks with big yellow polka dots who is flying a, yes, a bat kite. Further down the beach, a bat is sitting under a pink cocktail umbrella reading a book while three more bats are flying in the air. The title is in a gradated gold from dark to light, angled in the top left corner while the author’s name is barely visible at the bottom in the same blue of the sky.
The title is a night for the Bats at the Beach.
November 16, 2011
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did Bats at the Library, but - full disclosure here - I'm a retired librarian, so that may have something to do with it. Like the other two "Bats" books, this one had a good rhythm and rhyme, and excellent illustrations. The full moon entices the bats to go for a night at the beach. Usual beach activities abound, but of course with a batty twist. They slather on moon-tan lotion, and instead of flying kites, they fly each other. Instead of toasting marshmallows, they toast "bug-mallows." The bats don't go to the snack bar to buy snacks, but to feast on the bugs that are attracted to the light. Another fun book by Brian Lies.
June 14, 2015
It's a perfect night out - a perfect night for a trip to the beach. The bats grab their blankets and things, and who could tell that they are not people as they play in the sand and water? By their bedtime, of course!
Read full review here:
https://ermareads.wordpress.com/child...
Read full review here:
https://ermareads.wordpress.com/child...
March 11, 2018
NY Times Children's bestseller. Ivy League-educated Brian Lies is a better illustrator than rhymer. And I liked the notion of "moon-tan lotion." I think Michael Reiss's How Murray Saved Christmas is better, unless of course, bats are your thing.
October 12, 2008
Synopsis
: On a night when the moon can grow no fatter, bats pack their "moon tan" lotion and baskets of bug treats to fly off for some fun on the beach.
Review : A very sweet book about vacationing bats who come out at night to spend the "day" at the seashore. It provides a very unique viewpoint for a bedtime story. Going to sleep while the sun is just beginning to rise, celebrating cultural exchange by "making friends from other places with different foods and different faces".
Also really good for subtly encouraging picky eaters to perhaps explore new cultural cuisines. Making it fun for children to laugh at bat treats (pickled slugs, salted mosquitoes, etc.)while encouraging the ever so important lesson of sharing treats with others.
This well illustrated book also explores shared commonalities with human beings "little bats dig their sand caves deep, as old bats lie in the moon, asleep". While providing great upside down perspectives of bats eating on the ceiling of the "snack bar"--which consists of the glowing yellow light attracting "fresh" bugs for beach snacks. A great way of helping children become more comfortable with the dark as well as encourage them to perhaps respect the creatures that come out at night.
The rhyming text creates a wonderful flow to the book and there are plenty of points where the parent can stop and reinforce a lesson or two (sharing, cultural diversity, new cuisine, etc).
Critical Reviews :
School Library Journal : In the multi-media review for 2008, "Bats at the Beach" were a hit. Noting the paper umbrellas, plastic straws as swords in the fanciful illustrations --the amicable bats were highly recommended for summertime story times.
Common Sense : Reviewed with a twist on comparing and contrasting a human day at the beach with a bat "day" at the beach. Illustrations were again noted as providing the main appeal. Recommended for bedtime reading.
Review : A very sweet book about vacationing bats who come out at night to spend the "day" at the seashore. It provides a very unique viewpoint for a bedtime story. Going to sleep while the sun is just beginning to rise, celebrating cultural exchange by "making friends from other places with different foods and different faces".
Also really good for subtly encouraging picky eaters to perhaps explore new cultural cuisines. Making it fun for children to laugh at bat treats (pickled slugs, salted mosquitoes, etc.)while encouraging the ever so important lesson of sharing treats with others.
This well illustrated book also explores shared commonalities with human beings "little bats dig their sand caves deep, as old bats lie in the moon, asleep". While providing great upside down perspectives of bats eating on the ceiling of the "snack bar"--which consists of the glowing yellow light attracting "fresh" bugs for beach snacks. A great way of helping children become more comfortable with the dark as well as encourage them to perhaps respect the creatures that come out at night.
The rhyming text creates a wonderful flow to the book and there are plenty of points where the parent can stop and reinforce a lesson or two (sharing, cultural diversity, new cuisine, etc).
Critical Reviews :
School Library Journal : In the multi-media review for 2008, "Bats at the Beach" were a hit. Noting the paper umbrellas, plastic straws as swords in the fanciful illustrations --the amicable bats were highly recommended for summertime story times.
Common Sense : Reviewed with a twist on comparing and contrasting a human day at the beach with a bat "day" at the beach. Illustrations were again noted as providing the main appeal. Recommended for bedtime reading.
February 6, 2022
N'awww! What a sweet story... or should I say "bedtime story?" There's some lovely settling-down-and-snuggling-in happening toward the end that had me yawning repeatedly, and it's not even close to my bedtime.
The illustrations are top-notch. Lots of adorable details (baby batty with the yellow water wings! Bain de Lune moon-tan lotion! buggy snacks! squee!). There's so much to look at, and it's all cute as a button, and it's clever to boot.
I love kids' books that turn things upside-down (see also: Don't Blink!), and this story about a bat clan's nightly beach visit does this beautifully. (As well as quite literally: check out the author bio.) Everything that happens is at once very familiar to beachgoers, and also very... not!
My only minor quibble is that the rhymes are a little clumsy at times. I still love this book with the passion of a thousand burning suns, err, glowing moons. Also, a portion of the sales proceeds goes to Bat Conversation International.
The illustrations are top-notch. Lots of adorable details (baby batty with the yellow water wings! Bain de Lune moon-tan lotion! buggy snacks! squee!). There's so much to look at, and it's all cute as a button, and it's clever to boot.
I love kids' books that turn things upside-down (see also: Don't Blink!), and this story about a bat clan's nightly beach visit does this beautifully. (As well as quite literally: check out the author bio.) Everything that happens is at once very familiar to beachgoers, and also very... not!
My only minor quibble is that the rhymes are a little clumsy at times. I still love this book with the passion of a thousand burning suns, err, glowing moons. Also, a portion of the sales proceeds goes to Bat Conversation International.
August 14, 2022
Featured in a grandma reads session.
We've become great fans of the Bats @ X books! They are personified to the degree we can see they are in family groups just like us, except they do their playing at night, and hangout upside down.
This book has them visiting the beach, and playing games, surfing and bat grandmas mooning (rather than sunning). My group of readers are very amused by the Bats @ characters, and even enjoy picking out the ones they see from book to book.
Vote taken and returned at 4 stars! Bat stars, of course.
We've become great fans of the Bats @ X books! They are personified to the degree we can see they are in family groups just like us, except they do their playing at night, and hangout upside down.
This book has them visiting the beach, and playing games, surfing and bat grandmas mooning (rather than sunning). My group of readers are very amused by the Bats @ characters, and even enjoy picking out the ones they see from book to book.
Vote taken and returned at 4 stars! Bat stars, of course.
July 16, 2014
To no one's suprise, the PandaBat loved it. The art is delightful, Lies has created the most charming bats since Stellaluna.
June 7, 2018
I love how the verse flows, and the pictures were perfect for our beach storytime - lots of laughs from my crew.
February 20, 2018
Brian Lies’ Bats at the Beach is an inviting fantasy for young and older readers alike. A New York Times bestseller, this book, which is also available as an e-text, makes it easy for the reader to identify with all of the fun things that happen at the beach, aside from the fact that the main characters are bats! Even so, Lies does a fantastic job writing and illustrating this text and makes you look at bats in a very different way. The descriptive words and thoughtfully crafted pictures make the readers want to jump into the story and fly alongside the characters. You can almost smell the salty ocean air and feel the breeze on your face when reading this fantasy. “Launching out into the breeze, we sail above the darkened trees, fly fast, to wet our feet, where land and foamy ocean meet.”
This book would be great in a K-5 classroom setting, as this book lends itself to a number of great instructional opportunities.
Compare/Contrast: The children could compare and contrast what really happens when going to the beach (snacks they bring, how they travel to the beach) and focus on the word play that’s highlighted throughout the book.
Research: Students could research bats (PebbleGo, Big Universe, etc.) and write a short research paper on bats. They could then present the information to the class and compare it to what they learned in the book.
Role Playing/Writing: For the older classes, you could focus on the rhyming scheme and word play and could have small groups act out their favorite scenes from the book.
This was a WOW book for me because it was engaging right from the start and is a great example of how to write in rhyme in a fun and unique way. I know it would be a great book to add to my classroom library. In addition, it put a different spin on bats, which are usually viewed as frightening creatures. I think this book could help my future students open their minds to learning more about different types of animals in an appealing way.
This book would be great in a K-5 classroom setting, as this book lends itself to a number of great instructional opportunities.
Compare/Contrast: The children could compare and contrast what really happens when going to the beach (snacks they bring, how they travel to the beach) and focus on the word play that’s highlighted throughout the book.
Research: Students could research bats (PebbleGo, Big Universe, etc.) and write a short research paper on bats. They could then present the information to the class and compare it to what they learned in the book.
Role Playing/Writing: For the older classes, you could focus on the rhyming scheme and word play and could have small groups act out their favorite scenes from the book.
This was a WOW book for me because it was engaging right from the start and is a great example of how to write in rhyme in a fun and unique way. I know it would be a great book to add to my classroom library. In addition, it put a different spin on bats, which are usually viewed as frightening creatures. I think this book could help my future students open their minds to learning more about different types of animals in an appealing way.
January 17, 2018
I am happy I got a chance to revisit this book. It has a fun rhyme, and I am reading the giant board book that has the Bat Hymn in the back. I don’t remember that being in the original hardcover of the book, but then again, I am forgetful. And for future reference, i never want a bug-mallow. Eweee.
July 21, 2017
TOO. FRIGGIN'. CUTE.
April 11, 2024
I love the entire bat series!
June 27, 2024
So cute! I love the little details everywhere and the lilting rhyming poetry.
July 18, 2018
A lovely story with clever, beautifully done illustrations.
December 14, 2023
This series is great!
December 9, 2025
I loved everything about this book and the series. I learned today in my daughters phonics class, the teacher expected her to say she was scared of bats but she was NOT. She loved bats and told the teacher all about the bats at the beach on vacation. thanks you! bat fans unite.
August 21, 2017
Amazing detailed artwork.
July 17, 2025
Julia 1 star
Violet 5 stars
Violet 5 stars
March 21, 2013
this book was fun to read, because it showed a different perspective of the beach by talking about it at night versus in the day when most kids think about "going to the beach". The pictures were adorable, and i think they would catch the attention of young readers. one that i liked alot had them making smores but crickets were in the marshmellows. you could teach kids about compare and contrast in this book (night versus day at a beach). it would be a great opener to a study of the ocean, or for kids to talk about their experiences of going to a beach and what they did.
March 17, 2010
A fun story about a group of bats having a party at the beach (don't forget your moon-tan lotion!) Although it's all about the night, the illustrations are quite dark, which can be troublesome if reading in a dimly lit room at bedtime. Otherwise, it's a terrific story with both nicely detailed and silly illustrations.
July 12, 2011
I ADORED this book as soon as I saw it.
Although the rhymes don't perfectly flow, the illustrations are really what make this book a winner. My son, 5, always enjoys pointing out particular cute bat faces when we read this book; and I get a kick out of the "moontan lotion" and the buggy light bulb "snack bar."
This is a great escape from the "moral" children's books
Although the rhymes don't perfectly flow, the illustrations are really what make this book a winner. My son, 5, always enjoys pointing out particular cute bat faces when we read this book; and I get a kick out of the "moontan lotion" and the buggy light bulb "snack bar."
This is a great escape from the "moral" children's books
July 29, 2016
A family of bats goes for a midnight outing on the beach. The illustrations are SO cute! I liked his other book, Bats at the Library, a little bit better, but this one is excellent too. Highly recommended!
May 3, 2009
Same author as Bats at the library. I love the pictues especially the gross bug-mallows that get roasted on the beach.
September 2, 2012
Don't forget the moon-tan lotion!
April 8, 2015
Loved it, my young son loved it! Great pictures. Sure this book will be read over and over again in our household.
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