Little Bat Up All Day
Little Bat Up All Day
Brian Lies
HarperCollins, 2022
32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99
9780358269854
Little Bat has never stayed up all day before! He always goes to sleep at the end of the night and so he is very curious about how the world looks when he’s normally asleep. He’s excited to see how everything looks in the sun and so he decides to stay up all day.
It turns out the world is a much different place – it’s hot, bright, and noisy and full of new things. . Luckily, Rusty the Squirrel is willing to show Little Bat around, even though Little Bat struggles to stay awake. But when these new, fast friends separate at the end of the day, how will they stay in touch when one is usually awake while the other is asleep?
With a distinctive illustrative style that has won him a Caldecott Honor award among others for The Rough Patch, this is a charming story to share with young readers who always want to stretch their bedtime because they think that something magical happens to the world after dark. And it does – for all sorts of creatures who have slept during the day emerge when the sun disappears and the shadows take over. So it’s no wonder Little Bat is curious about what happens in the world while he is asleep.
A peek inside…
As well as shining a light, so to speak, on the activities we diurnal creatures tend to take for granted, this is also an opportunity for young readers to learn about nocturnal creatures and consider why that is the best time for them to be awake. Why does Little Bat sleep during the day? It can lead to investigations about why we have day and night, the phases of the moon, and even why all creatures need to sleep at some time.
More than just a bedtime story.