Bats at the Beach tells us of the bats that take advantage of a clear, moonlit night to have a fun adventure night on the beach, playing games and meeting new friends.
This book by Brian Lies is well written and has an easy flow to the words. Each page has four lines written and each set of two rhymes with the previous. This style of writing by Lies makes it an easy flow and fun to read for all ages. The words are also smaller, easier words so younger readers have a better understanding as well of what is happening.
Lies also includes amazing drawings that highlight the story and enhance the text rhymes to make the story a visual experience for the reader. The illustrations are crafted to bleed from page to page and draw the reader to turn the page and see what the bats will do next. The pictures do tell a story all their own, without the text included but without the pictures, the text would not be as meaningful.
Lies never highlights any specific bats, but gives them all a feeling of personification in that they grab their moon-tan lotion and picnic baskets to head to a night at the beach, surfing and building sandcastles. This element really makes the reader jump into the pages as it may be similar to activities they have experienced at the beach and therefore makes the book a fun adventure to see what the bats will get into next.
This is a great book for educators to highlight different experiences that people have and also to use rhymes as a teaching method to learn new information. It could also be used as a comparison activity for students to draw parallels on what Lies' bats do and what they do at a similar outing to the beach. There is also a lesson in the differences between bats and people such as bats can only come out at night and people travel to the beach during the day. It also makes reference many times to the different types of characters that come to experience the adventure and shows that no matter what someone looks like, all are welcome to join in different activities.
For young readers, this book definitely hits the mark. It is a simple read that is targeted to ages 3-6 and for those just learning to read, the easy word choice and the rhymes make it easier to understand. This book is great for just learning to read as well as to share with parents and practice reading skills. I highly recommend it. Lies tells an entertaining story that will really draw readers into the pages and make them want to have their own adventure, just like the bats.
Read Alikes:
For this book, there are many similar read-alikes. To start, this is not Lies' first book about the bats. To be entertained by the bat adventures look into both Bats at the Ballgame and Bats at the Library.
Another great read alike is the Froggy series as well as Clifford books:
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