The Secret Life of the Little Brown Bat (Secret Life)

Gr 2-5--Otis is a little brown bat living a mysterious life. Pringle reveals with captivating detail this amazing creature's growth, from his early beginnings learning to hunt and fly solo to capturing prey using ultrasonic sounds. This book is a delightful work of narrative nonfiction that communicates facts and terminology about brown bats alongside beautiful artwork. Done in pastels and aqua crayons on sanded paper, the illustrations are an enchanting addition to the text. From the night scenes to the sun slowly dawning, Garchinsky expertly captures various scenes of bat life, such as Otis capturing a moth for dinner. While the overall story is written in an accessible way for younger readers, Pringle also includes a solid amount of information in the back matter, including an explanation of the name Otis (the species' scientific name is Myotis lucifugus) and a call to action about the white nose disease that is threatening brown bat populations. VERDICT An excellent choice for elementary nonfiction collections.--Molly Dettmann, Norman North High School, OK

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Pringle weaves information about the lives of these misunderstood mammals into his imagined-from-facts tale...this veteran science writer mostly avoids anthropomorphization, describing actions with lively language that's fun to read aloud... The conclusion of this simple story demonstrates the importance of these bats to our lives...Appropriate vocabulary introduces relevant concepts. Garchinsky's darkly atmospheric illustrations...will show well at storytime. A(n) effective appreciation." - Kirkus Reviews

★ "Pringle reveals with captivating detail this amazing creature's growth...This book is a delightful work of narrative nonfiction that communicates facts and terminology...alongside beautiful artwork. (T)he illustrations are an enchanting addition to the text...(and) Garchinsky expertly captures various scenes of bat life. (W)ritten in an accessible way for younger readers, Pringle also includes a solid amount of information in the back matter...and a call to action about the white nose disease that is threatening brown bat populations. An excellent choice for elementary nonfiction collections." - School Library Journal, starred review

★ "(A) lively, engaging account of one animal's life...(t)he impressionistic illustrations use soft strokes of color to portray the bat and his world. A beautiful, informative picture book about this common North American bat." - Booklist, starred review