Littlebat's Halloween Story

by Diane Mayr, Gideon Kendall (Illustrator)

Littlebat, who lives with his mother in the attic of the public library, loves to poke his head through a hole in the attic floor and listen to the librarian read stories to the children. One day, while listening to a story about a butterfly, he gets so excited by the picture in the book that he loses his grip. As he plummets into the room below, the children scream and the librarian shoos him away with her book. "Mama!" Littlebat cries as he zooms back to the safety of the attic.Littlebat's mother says he must not go close to a book again. "Never?" asks Littlebat. "Well...maybe there's a time when it can be done, " his mother says, relenting. "You must wait for changes."

So Littlebat waits. The seasons slowly change, from spring to summer to fall. At last the nights are longer and cooler and the leaves have turned red and gold. Pumpkins appear. It's time!

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Holiday, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how this story ended. Littlebat heard the librarian reading to the children but he wanted to see the pictures. One time he leaned in too far and fell from the ceiling, scaring all the children. His mother told him he could see the pictures during a perfect time. It took almost a whole year but finally the perfect time for Littlebat to see the pictures during reading time was on Halloween! How creative!

[Kaila · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was unexpectedly adorable!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it at my library! Hurray! I know Diane is a librarian and her sweet story tells of a little bat who lives in an attic above a library. There is a hole through which he can see children sit to hear the librarian read stories, so he begins to listen, too. One time he loses his grip and falls into the room, causing quite a stir. He's okay but wants so much to get closer to the books. His mother keeps saying he must wait, that changes will come and then he can. The rest of the story follows parts of the seasons and has a wonderful surprise at the end when finally Little Bat can really "see" the pictures as he listens. Illustrations by Gideon Kendall fill the pages with lovely outdoor scenes, realistic animals (especially bats) and happy children (plus a librarian).

[Alecia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 8 year old said to give this 1000 stars after we read it tonight - so five stars it is!

Very sweet story that was right up her alley. She loved looking for the mother and baby bat in the pages where they were somewhat hidden in the landscape, and she loved the last page when the librarian was reading the same book as us!

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww! Sweet story about a baby bat and his mom who live in a library attic. Littlebat loves listening to the books being read aloud to children during Storytime, until one day, he leans in a little too far and causes chaos flapping around the library. Great perspective of a bat reacting to how humans react to him--bats are far more afraid of humans than we are of them!

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story about a little bat who wanted to go to storytime. However, there is only ONE page about Halloween.

[Sparrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I think the ending was a bit abrupt but oh well.

[Jay Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gideon Kendall does a great job of capturing kids' facial expressions.

[Michael Medlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a gentle bat

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Littlebat is so patient for his chance to see the pictures that go with the stories he so loves hearing.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pics and cute story. Set in a library - good one to read at story time.