Bat Jamboree: A Rhythmic Picture Book about Counting and Music for Children

by Kathi Appelt, Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)

The Bat Jamboree was held early this year, at the old drive-in movie not too far from here. It was standing room only as the houselights went down. The spotlight came up -- there wasn't a sound! Then: 1 bat sang.2 bats flapped. 3 bats cha-cha-ed4 bats tapped. Every year a troupe of 55 buoyant bats comes up with 10 fabulous acts to entertain and instruct an enthusiatic audience. And every year the bats top themselves when they perform the grandest finale of all . . . With its exuberant text and enchanting illustrations, Bat Jamboree is both a counting book and a thrilling theatrical event.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

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

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say it, as I've loved Appelt's children's novels, but generally her picture-books just aren't special. I appreciate that this counts up to 10 and also back down, that it gives us a chance to sum '10 + 9 +... = 55,' and that it encourages us to think of bats as appealing. But it's overly long, with a rhythm that takes a few reads to master, and has cartoony illustrations that do not appeal, imo.

[Slayermel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not the biggest fan of this book. I like the drawings because I'm very partial to bats, but I find the story very lacking. It seems like a book that was thrown together to help children learn their numbers, but the story just does not seem to flow proper. Parts of it rhyme other parts hardly go together. I find it very easy to loose focus while reading this book. There are plenty of other books out there that make counting to 10 and back again a lot more fun in my opinion.

[Ellen Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be a good Kindergarten read-aloud for October since it combines counting and bats. The student reaction was only mediocre. Truthfully, the story is rather lame and the rhythm and rhyme is awkward in places. I won't use it next year

[Juli19 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about a big event held every year for bats. They are all excited to see the show that they all line up to go to the place where the show is going to take place. Thousands of bats are on their seats waiting for the performers, then one bat appears and it is singing, two bats are flapping, three bats are dancing cha-cha, four bats tapped. Later appeared six bats playing music on their band. All different numbers of bats doing something on stage. In the grand finale of the show the acrobats made a big pyramid and all spectators were applauding to the artists. This is a good book for children between the ages of 4-6. It is a good book to teach them about math. I think children will love to listen to the story because the illustrations are going to catch their attention and they will be putting into practice their counting skills.

[Atsupui Dogbla]

Children can find the idea of counting in this book, briefly mathematics. They may learn shapes, counting forward and backward; they may learn addition and subtraction: numbers, and rhymes. They can easily describe in their own words the illustration in the book. It's recommended to kindergarteners and first graders.

[Ms. Jeane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always want to this book to work in storytime, I think it has good rhyming but it always looses the kids attention. I like the last like, "it's not over until the Bat Lady sings," but the kids don't get the play on words the way an adult would.

[Dr. T Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another goofy but fun bat book! As long as you don't go expecting bat facts, this will be an enjoyable read.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have for kids and adults that read to them. It is hilarious! Fifty five bats are performing in the Bat Jamboree. They dance, they jive, they juggle and twirl.

This is a great book for kids to learn how to count all the way to 55. And the last page is the absolute best. It made me laugh out loud.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, it counts from 1 to 10 and then back down, but many of the rhymes were awkward and the illustrations were a little too "comic book" for my personal taste. I had wanted to use it in preschool storytime, but I'm afraid the kids won't appreciate it. Sadly, I haven't found a whole lot that I like, I might have to skip the bat theme.... :(

[Robby Owen]

This is a fun book that can help kids with counting to 10 in a new and different way. The counting is engaging for kids because of the different characters to count and the illustrations engage the child even more.

[AMY]

This is a funny, punny, and rhyming story of some bats that form a band and creat music for a jamboree. There are sections of counting and fun frolics of fur in the bat cave and beyond. Hilarious illustrations. Highly recommended for Grades K-4.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great rhythm with a funny ending.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

At an abandoned outdoor movie theater, fifty-five bats perform in a toe-tapping, wing-flapping revue — and await the grand finale.

Great, comical illustrations.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book. I think it's a good book you younger readers. My 3 kids enjoyed reading this book.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a little long for my preschoolers, and I struggled to find good opportunities for dialogic reading.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, especially her play on words such as Acro-bats and the “bat-lady sings” (fat lady sings). Very creative word use.

[Kyrstin Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute little book. Not much substance, though.

[Alexandra Hegge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about counting to 10, all the while it has awesome illustrations. It also brings in dance and theater terms which would be fun for educating kids on theatre and theatre edict.

[McKenna R · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Cute but just okay.

[Becky Galambos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable little book, especially for a theatre person. The bats are putting on a show!

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appelt Box #6
Counting book with added extras and a tale of sorts, it also has some puns, not too bad.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, quick read.

[Ting Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is appropriate for ages 4 to 6 in early childhood classrooms. The book “Bat Jamboree” talks about 55 bats at the jamboree. I like this book because it provides colorful illustrations and rhyme texts, which is very fun. It is a good book to teach them about math. The teacher can use this book introduce math skills to children. After reading this book to children, the teacher can play some activities to teach children about math in the fun way. For example, when young children play blocks in the classroom, they learn many basic math concepts. While children playing blocks has many experiences that relate to math, such as exploring patterns, shapes, comparing sizes, and counting things. My earliest memories about math are memories of me counting on my fingers when I was four years old. Since I entered kindergarten at the age of six, I began to learn to count simple addition and subtraction such as 1+1=2. I had hard time learning math because most of time at school, I was confused about my math homework. Math is an important subject for children to learn in their early life. Children learn math by interacting with the world around them. Learning math also helps children to learn to describe things clearly. For example, a child may says, “I see two lambs, five tables; eight chairs in this room.”

[Yiovana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a group of bats who perform for a big audience. Everyone is excited to see them perform and the bats begin the show, it goes from 1 bat singing, 2 bats flapping, 3 bats dancing cha-cha, 4 bats tapping, and so on. Everyone applauds them and shows them how amazing they were. This is a good book for children between the ages of 4-6 because it provides math concepts. I think children will love to listen to the story because the illustrations are going to catch their attention and they will be engaged by counting the bats that are performing. This book also contains rhyming which makes the story more interesting to listen to.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bat Jamboree was held early this year, at the old drive-in movie not too far from here. It was standing room only as the houselights went down. The spotlight came up -- there wasn't a sound! Then:

1 bat sang.2 bats flapped. 3 bats cha-cha-ed4 bats tapped.


Every year a troupe of 55 buoyant bats comes up with 10 fabulous acts to entertain and instruct an enthusiatic audience. And every year the bats top themselves when they perform the grandest finale of all . . .

With its exuberant text and enchanting illustrations, Bat Jamboree is both a counting book and a thrilling theatrical event.

[Corin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Counting Books
Bat Jamboree is a fun, colorful, rhyming book featuring performing bats counting up and back to 10. It is silly and quirky; perfect for early elementary grade students.
Themes: Counting, rhyming, fun
Ways to use the book: It is a great read-aloud for beginning counting skills. Using a big-book edition or projected text, students can count and follow along as the teacher reads. I also keep a couple of copies in the class library for buddy reading. The text is simple enough for students to read with buddy support.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic rhymes and an ABAB structure are used for most of this story. Perfect rhythm for reading out loud. It is also a counting book which goes up and then down as the bats build a pyramid: 1 bat sang, 2 flapped etc. This is all seen on the "silver screen"--bats go to an outdoor movie to see the bats build their pyramid. Great pictures. I would love to read this book with a child.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have some verry good memories with this book i can recall sitting listing to the cd and danceing while singing along this book is so cute and a great way to help children learn their numbers the tune is so caghtey i can still remember it though i haven't read it with the tape. Children will adore this book and have a fun time singing and laughing along.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story in rhyme about 55 bats who perform a show in the bat jamboree. the rhyme is sometimes a little hard to follow but it is a cute story that could be used for the pre schoolers in story time. It counts from one to ten and back again.

[Abbi Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brightened my day. It has kind of a Twelve Days of Christmas thing going on. The pictures are great, and there are numbers all over the book. This might be a good book for basic counting. I loved it!