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