Amara and the Bats
Amara, a brown-skinned girl, loves bats. Her all-consuming interest starts when she, her mother, and her teenage brother, Samir, find a bat in their attic. Amara wants to keep it as a pet, but her mother calls wildlife rescue instead. After that, Amara reads everything she can about bats, repeating what she knows to anyone who will listen. When the family moves to a new house, Amara rushes to the park to look for bats but, sadly, finds none. After learning that bats have been driven from the area by the recent construction of an apartment complex, Amara manages to engage her new classmates in a project that will help make the park more attractive to bats by making bat houses and creating a small bat sanctuary. After a realistically long amount of time, the bats do, indeed, begin to return to the park. While the community-led nature reserve may happen a bit too easily here, the story of child activists making change is infused with an age-appropriate hopefulness. Back matter includes more information about bats, how to make and install a bat house, and other ways you can help bats. End pages include delightful line drawings of eighteen different species of bats. ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Emma Reynolds
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-9
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
Activism and Resistance
Animals (Fiction)
Animals (Informational)
Environmental Challenges
Diversity subject:
Brown Skin Unspecified
Physical Disability/Condition
Publishers:
Atheneum, Simon & Schuster
Publish Year: 2021
Pages: 40
ISBN: 9781534469013
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Reynolds