Bats on Parade

by Kathi Appelt

"Up marched the saxophones,
all 25 --
sopranos and altos
they come five by five"The creators of "Bat Jamboree," which "School Library Journal" called "a witty combination of counting book and theatrical experience," are proud to introduce -- 385 marching band bats!From the drum majorette, who marches 1 X 1, to the sousaphones striding 10 X 10, these bats march in multiples to the tune of Kathi Appelt's snappy text and Melissa Sweet's boisterous illustrations.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Childrens, Counting, Music, Halloween, Number

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Lives in College Station, TX with husband Ken and four adorable cats.

Two sons, both musicians.

Serves on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more math tutorial than storybook, but the artwork by Melissa Sweet is pretty cute.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute--I agree with the other reviewers. You get cute rhymes as well as learning multiplication. You can read it to younger kids without having to worry about the math, they can visually see the results of the math. Pretty watercolors and all the "townspeople" are different animals. Lots of visuals to linger over. I like the fact that they used bats--which are often maligned and people are scared of. Some good, new vocabulary words and a few puns. (They formed a "battalion.") I'd read it to a group from K-3, I think.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

One hundred sousaphones, huh? Why bother with the four piccolos, then? Silly book, but it makes bats look adorable, not spooky, and it has big numbers for kids tired of counting only to 10 or 12.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

385! This cute kids book uses adorable color illustrations by Melissa Sweet to put a twist to the "counting" book concept. As the parade goes through town, the Marching Bat Band does their stuff. The onlookers (from ducks to turtles -- all minutely depicted) applaud as the band reaches its rousing finale -- the old Stars and Stripes. Actually this book would be great for both Halloween AND the Independence Day.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

With an interesting way to teach multiplication (specifically squares of numbers), this book is a silly, but fun story. The crazy illustrations of myriad bats playing musical instruments is humorous and the depictions of the rank and file help teach the math concepts. The rhyming narrative is a little awkward in parts, but adds to the entertainment of the story.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mid-summers eve and no better time for a parade of bats. The grandstands were filled, and out came the bats. This colorful and fun book teaches the reader to count using the multiplication method until the number reaches 385, and ends with a fly over to end the parade in high fashion.

[Carson hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess times have changed since I was a kid many, many years ago. All I know is when I personally learned multiplication this book would have been too childish for me. I mean, the book is cute and all, but it seems to be more for a six-eight year old, while the math seems to be for 4th-5th graders. That's just my opinion, but unfortunately, this opinion of mine caused me to not enjoy the book as much as I could. (BTW, I love to read kids books as well as YA books as well as other genres).

[Margaret Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

10/28/2022 ~ This was a last minute "read aloud" decision for my kindergarten classes this week. Though the plot introduces the idea of multiplication through arrays (bats marching in 5 rows of 5), with kindergarten, we counted (at least until the page with 25.) They enjoyed the rhymes and got excited at the number of bats increased. This would also be effective up to third grade as classes begin multiplication.

[Benoitcesoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this book has a bevy of bats in a marching bat band, teaching multiplication, and addition through story telling. I think math teachers would benefit from having this book in their classroom.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bats, marching bands, multiplication, and rhymes with some fun illustrations to really drive home the multiplication. This one is just fun.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Applet Box #14
Bats parading....
Why?
Who knows
But here they are - a lot go banging on about well nothing really!

[Kara Moreland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book told about a bat parade. This book was a multiplying book along with adding. The bats would come in rows with the same number of rows as people in rows. (2x2) (3x3) etc. then they added all of them up at the end.
This was a cute story and a cute way to learn multiplication facts. It gives a good understanding of what is actually happening.
This book would be good for a math class to help students get a better understanding of multiplying.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and loving Bats around the Clock, this was the next one out from the library. This is a little advanced for a not-quite-3-year-old, since it deals with multiplication for goodness sakes, but he loves it anyway. It's only multiplication of a number by itself, ie 2x2, 4x4 to describe how many bats are in each section of the Bat Marching Band. Being the band geek I am, I wish there was an accompanying cassette or CD with this one, but my equally band geeky husband said the intonation would not be very good. (Whose to say 100 tubas, 81 trombones, 64 french horns isn't the right number to 2 piccolos?) The rhyming verses, fun illustrations and big numbers on each page were a hit with my son, who I think was glad to see his cherished bats again after taking Bats Around the Clock back to the library.

[Mitchell Ary · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok it seems this evening that i would like to add every single book to my collections as a teacher. but i have to admit i love rhyme scheme within a piece of literature, kathi appelt did it in such a way that made her comparable to Dr.seuss himself. a bit bold but i must differentiate that these two authors are most definitely not the same. this book will help with sentence fluency for children and make reading fun for them because rhyming makes reading interesting! everyone knows this. but the part that took this book from a 4 star to 5 star review is the fact that it incorporated math into its text by introducing the square of every number from 1 to 10. so this book is what i would like to call dynamic in its methods delivering an interesting plot of dancing animals in a parade and some whitty bats along with incorporating some multiplication aspects into the text.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice and fun picture book about fictitious bats in a parade with an emphasis on counting, multiplication, and some addition. Every page introduces a new part of the parade and how many bats are in it (3 by 3, 6 by 6 etc with accompanying pictures of them). It's a really fun book to read to kids; our Kindergarten class went balistic towards the end when every page was turned and an even bigger group of bats in the parade showed up. it's a great book to compliment an ongoing unit on bats and kids will love to see the parade getting bigger and bigger towards the end. The last page has a huge addition problem that adds up to a total of about 350 bats. Overall, a great book to introduce bats, different instruments, and math skills to kids.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone's excited for the fantastic parade starring the bats! Each musical instrument section of the parade is an example of a times tables. For example:
Next came the flute players
all in a line.
They marched three by three ---
which comes out to 9.

One of the better math related children books I've read.

Goofy fun illustrations.

[Mina Saeed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book to use while teadching multiplication.
Also to teach the DOUBLES FACTS
So they use the double facts in the book and at the end they add them all up to get the product. It is a really good book.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for teaching multiplication 2x2 to 10x10
Number of bats on page equal to product so can use for counting
Bats for Halloween
Very colorful illustrations
Several US cities named in the book
Musical instruments named (Picalos)

[Alfajirikali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to multiplication book.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book to help kids who want to know what multiplication is all about.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's a story about bats in a marching band in a parade. good book to talk about multiplication and doubling.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach students about multiplication. You can also use this book to teach the students about the doubles facts.

[Yadira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shows bats that are marching in a parade. They line up 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, etc. This book can be used to review multiplication tables.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be great for a lesson on arrays and multiplication.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bats on Parade is a rhyming multiplication picture book, colorful and a learning activity too.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a fun multiplication book using a bats on parade theme.
Ages 5-8
Kindergarten-Grade 3
Lexile Measure: AD690L

[Maritza · Rating 2 out of 5]

~2.5
+ catchy rhymes, great for teaching math: multiplication & addition to children, enjoyed the quirky illustrations

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh, don't see the point of this book. Multiplication tables? I like bats but don't get the connection.