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The Bat Scientists

Mary Kay Carson’s new book The Bat Scientists with photographs by her husband, Tom Uhlman, is a stand out in the wonderful Scientists in the Field series. Even if you are only mildly interested in bats or find bats off putting, this is a fascinating book.

Carson follows bat scientist Merlin Tuttle into a cave in Texas to find out what studying bats in like. Immediately we learn that this field is not for the squeamish. Wading through bat guano teeming with insects, while breathing through a respirator in a smelly cave at temperatures of 100° F isn’t for everyone. Thank goodness that Dr. Tuttle and his colleagues (and Mary Carson) are willing to do it, because it turns out that bats are pretty important in the scheme of things. By learning more about them, hopefully we can protect these fragile and misunderstood little creatures before it is too late. Carson discusses some of the disturbing recent threats to bats at the end of the book.

Our family became intrigued by bats years ago through two great fiction picture books: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and wonderful The Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon. This great nonfiction middle grade book is keeping that curiosity alive and well, as we learn the current bat facts and research techniques. As my son says,”The Bat Scientists is a really good book!”

This book was nominated for a Cybils in middle grade nonfiction.

For more information and reviews, see Mary Carson’s The Bat Scientists page.

For bat science activities, see Growing With Science.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547199562
ISBN-13: 978-0547199566

Related Nonfiction Reader:

Fiction Picture Books About Bats:

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

The Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Books Together.

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Children’s Author Trivia Volume 20 Answers

For these trivia questions from last week, we have two very different authors who worked hard at their writing while holding down jobs.

42. Our first author was a school teacher, when she and her co-author started writing books together. Her first book idea came from a day when she was having a hard time keeping the attention of her students. She imagined they might take notice if she sprouted horns and fangs. This wild idea lead to a series of popular books. At first she and her co-author wrote their books in the school cafeteria during lunch time. Amazing!

Marcia Thornton Jones‘ bad day resulted in the book Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots with co-author Debbie Dadey. From there she has gone to write the popular Bailey School Kid series as well as many other best-selling books.

A trailer for her book Ratfink:

Thank you to Leah for bringing the Bailey School Kid series to my attention.

Check out more books by Marcia Thornton Jones:

43. Our second author began writing secretly when he was a teenager, so his brothers wouldn’t find out. He wrote at least eight novels while working as a carpenter before one was accepted for publication. At first he specialized in mystery novels for adults, but then on an editor’s suggestion, he tried young adult. His first book was such a success that was made into a movie, and many more novels have followed. He has co-written books with his wife, as well.

Rodman Philbrick‘s first book for young adults was Freak the Mighty, which was made into the movie The Mighty.

He is married to Lynn Harnett, who is also an author. Together they wrote the haunted house trilogy called The House On Cherry Street.

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Children’s Author Trivia Volume 20

Our trivia questions are a bit delayed this week, but better late than never as the saying goes.  trivia-logo

The authors this week come from very different backgrounds and have very different styles, yet both have found their own special niche. And both found time to write even though they were working full time, at least at first.

42. Our first author was a school teacher, when she and her co-author started writing books together. Her first book idea came from a day when she was having a hard time keeping the attention of her students. She imagined they might take notice if she sprouted horns and fangs. This wild idea lead to a series of popular books. At first she and her co-author wrote their books in the school cafeteria during lunch time. Amazing!

43. Our second author began writing secretly when he was a teenager, so his brothers wouldn’t find out. He wrote at least eight novels while working as a carpenter before one was accepted for publication. At first he specialized in mystery novels for adults, but then on an editor’s suggestion, he tried young adult. His first book was such a success that was made into a movie, and many more novels have followed. He has co-written books with his wife, as well.

Leave a comment if you’d like to guess the identity of one or both of these authors.

Edit: The answers are now posted.

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Ubiquitous Applause

Everywhere you go on the Internet you see kudos for Ubiquitous:  Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beckie Prange (insert joke about the book being “ubiquitous” here). It won an Eureka! Gold Award from California Reads. It has been nominated for a Cybils award (in the poetry category). A Fuse#8 Production has a review, with a list of other reviews and extensive related links. What more is there to say?

Starting with bacteria, Sidman has chosen to highlight organisms that have survived when others have gone extinct. She gives both the good (bacteria have important jobs) and the bad (a few can cause disease). Accompanying each are Prange’s delightful illustrations, also power-packed with information if you only know to look. And, if you have heard any of the buzz about this book you know, Prange’s use of yarn to make a timeline of the earth just has to be seen to be appreciated. Amazing!

Being a biologist by training, I was interested in the serious nonfiction side of this book. Yes, each creature Joyce Sidman has chosen is represented by a lovely, creative poem. Opposite, however, is a page of exquisitely condensed scientific information, including (gasp!) scientific names. Let’s be upfront, this book takes a decidedly modern, scientific view of how the world came to be.

Given the extensive amount of research the author did, the experts she consulted and how up-to-the-minute her information, this book in many ways surpasses those filed in the 500’s rather than the 800’s. Add my kudos to the long list of others for this book.

As for reading level, I think that (once again) although Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors looks like a picture book and the poetry is deceptively short and sweet, it is more appropriate for older children.

If you love poetry and want to see the 14 organisms Sidman and Prange chose to celebrate as survivors, then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book.

If anyone from Houghton Mifflin stops by:  A poster set with the poems and illustrations and the nonfiction information on the back, including the yarn timeline, would probably be found in every classroom and household in the country. 🙂

Reading level: Ages 4-8 (Amazon)
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 5, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0618717196
ISBN-13: 978-0618717194

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Playing By The Book.