Summary: This book is an informational book about bats, and their interesting quirks as well as what endangers them. This book has a desire to shed light on the wonders of bats, hopefully causing the reader to not be as afraid of them as he/she once was.

Review: This book would make an interesting choice as part of a lesson plan involving nocturnal creatures such as bats. This book could also be used as a resource on an essay about bats, or another similar project. ( )

This book tells of the study of bats by one particular group. It has excellent diagrams that come with close ups of what bats actually look like and detailed explanations of the specifics. I love this book because it gives comparisons between different animals and bats, including humans. The science of echolocation is explained and descriptions are given of how bats communicate with each other and hunt. Kids will love the up close pictures of bats, and may find them cute as I did after all. I would use this book at part of a unit on misunderstood animals, or as a boo near Halloween, or as part of a sound lesson or unit, to talk about another method of moving around.

A one day read (or, a whole day read, I should say). Fascinating look at both subjects: bats and the people who study them. Z is now planning on dedicating the next several days to bats - wants to build bat houses and go to the zoo to study the ones that are still there. He also told me he wants to sneak out of the house at night to Hawaii to study caves in dry caves. Can't say I blame him. ( )

Retelling: Mary Kay Carson follows scientist Dr. Merlin Tuttle and his team on expeditions into North American bat territory. The book begins with an overview of bats around the globe, then informs the reader about bat anatomy and lifestyle through the lens of Barbara French, a woman who rehabilitates ailing bats and dedicates her time to educating the public about their importance as a species. Then Carson explores bat habitats, such as caves, and man-made structures, what makes them habitable to bats, and what activities can damage their bat tenants. The book is intended to inspire the reader to learn more about bats, and to help efforts to protect them. Some of the proceeds from the sale of the book go to Bat Conservation International. Tom Uhlman's goal was to capture images of bats who were not under duress. Most of the pictures that the public sees are bats in panic. He succeeded in catching them at some of their cutest moments.

Thoughts and Feelings: Instead of allowing the information and statistics to speak for themselves, I often felt like I was being nagged...about bats. I did not like the editorial/doom-sayer style of the book, but there were some truly fascinating and informative details. Vampire bats, for example, were the inspiration for a life-saving chemical that reduces clotting in stroke patients. Also, counting bat populations is an extremely difficult because they appear at night and move very swiftly. Scientists use thermal imaging cameras that transform the body-heat of bats into a red glow against the cool night sky. A computer program then counts the glowing dots to generate a more accurate (but still not perfect) count. I enjoy these details the most because they show how studying biology can reveal solutions to human problems, and also how human technology can help solve bat problems. Pretty batty!

Carson, Mary Kay. (2010). The Bat Scientists. Photography by Tom Uhlman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 80 pp. ISBN 978-0-547-19956-6 (Hard Cover); $18.99.

When I first moved to Michigan, I was horrified to learn that some of my in-laws regularly killed bats with tennis rackets. Their old historic house has many entrances for creatures as small as bats and their fear and ignorance allowed them to complain about bats in the house while scratching mosquito bites. Some even believed that bats would fly into their hair. Our own first home in Allegan, Michigan entertained a bat or two. We did not smack them with rackets, however. We opened the window or door and our winged friend would fly out within minutes. The Bat Scientists is written for my in-laws and, unfortunately, thousands of people just like them.

As much as I admire and understand bats, however, this book fills me with new respect for bat scientists! I cannot imagine walking in fecal matter filled with beetles that quickly remove all traces of footprints and even gnaw the flesh off the bones of baby Mexican free-tailed bats unfortunate enough to fall into these living guano piles. I haven’t even mentioned the need to clean the mites from my hair that drip like rain inside the dark bat cave. Have I mentioned the humid, one hundred degree temperature or the persistent and dangerous ammonia smell? Carson explores basic bat biology, general facts about natural predators of bats, bat life cycle in nature, myths associated with bats, bat benefits, cave dynamics, and various famous bat locations, such as Bracken Bat Cave (largest colony of bats in the world), Saltpeter Cave, Laurel Cave, and several bat bridges. Bat scientists are desperately trying to understand the cause of White-Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease that may drive several species of bats into extinction. We also learn that wind energy, which is seen as an exceptional green form of energy, is responsible for killing thousands of bats. The blades are not smacking the bats in mid flight. Often the bats have no external injuries. Scientists suspect the spinning blades cause the air pressure to drop too rapidly for the bats’ lungs and their lungs simply explode. This book is part of the FABULOUS Scientists in the Field series and as with all titles in this series the text is informative and conversational. The photography and graphics are excellent. Add this book to any library anywhere in the country for students of any age!