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They live in spooky caves, in forests, even in the dark reaches of ordinary attics and bridges. They flock by the hundreds, and they sleep while hanging upside down! In this beautifully photographed Level 2 Reader, kids learn about one of the most interesting creatures around—and discover the bat’s unique place in the wild and in the world. The high-interest topic, expertly written text, and bonus learning activity lay the groundwork for a successful and rewarding reading experience.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 2010
11 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Carney
83 books21 followersElizabeth Carney is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She specializes in children's nonfiction and science, math, and STEM-related subjects.
Elizabeth received the 2005 AAAS Science Journalism Award for science reporting for children. Her titles Face to Face With Cheetahs, Face to Face With Gorillas, and Great Migrations: Whales, Wildebeests, Butterflies, Elephants, and Other Amazing Animals on the Move appeared on the National Science Teachers Association's Outstanding Science Trade Book list for 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.
Elizabeth received the 2005 AAAS Science Journalism Award for science reporting for children. Her titles Face to Face With Cheetahs, Face to Face With Gorillas, and Great Migrations: Whales, Wildebeests, Butterflies, Elephants, and Other Amazing Animals on the Move appeared on the National Science Teachers Association's Outstanding Science Trade Book list for 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 12, 2011
Pa: So if I remember correctly, you want a pet bat now, right?
Brontë: Mmmhmm.
Pa: Why?
Brontë: Because they're cute and they look fun to play with.
Pa: Aren't they dangerous?
Brontë: No. I don't think so.
Pa: What about vampire bats?
Brontë: Well, I don't think they bite people. The myth about them is that vampire bats don't turn into people vampires. That's just silly.
Pa: What do they bite?
Brontë: I think instead they bite other animals instead of people. Besides, even if they bite people I don't think they would do it unless a person was annoying them. And if they swoop in and try to bite you they'll just get knocked in your hair and all tangled. Actually, I can't remember if that is true or false. I think Mom would like some of these bats. Because one of them takes pollen from flowers.
Pa: Do they spread flowers?
Brontë: There's one bat who does. Hairy-legged nectar bat.
Pa: What was your favourite bat?
Brontë: My favourite bat? Let's see. There are a lot of cool bats. I like this bat, the Gambian epaulleted bat (*bit of a struggle in the middle of that*). Anyway, this bat, the Ma and baby, they fly together and they do everything together, it's like they are attached to each other, and before they are about to fly, the Mom milks the baby until the baby is large and fat and full, and that gets his wings strong.
Oh! And I like these bats that I think are all brothers and sisters I think they are all stuck together when they are sleeping.
Pa: Would you like to sleep upside down?
Brontë: Mmm ... yep, as long as I had a tree and my feet were attached to it because if they weren't I'd be awake all night.
Pa: So what are you reading next?
Brontë: Umm ... maybe Harry Potter.
Pa: What about My Dead Girlfriend. The first bit is a bit tough, but then the rest just flies by.
Brontë: Did you read it?
Pa: Yep.
Brontë: How long did it take?
Pa: I read it in a day.
Brontë: Wow!
Pa: It will take you longer, but you'll dig it.
Brontë: Okay, I'll read that next.
Pa: Cool.
Brontë: Mmmhmm.
Pa: Why?
Brontë: Because they're cute and they look fun to play with.
Pa: Aren't they dangerous?
Brontë: No. I don't think so.
Pa: What about vampire bats?
Brontë: Well, I don't think they bite people. The myth about them is that vampire bats don't turn into people vampires. That's just silly.
Pa: What do they bite?
Brontë: I think instead they bite other animals instead of people. Besides, even if they bite people I don't think they would do it unless a person was annoying them. And if they swoop in and try to bite you they'll just get knocked in your hair and all tangled. Actually, I can't remember if that is true or false. I think Mom would like some of these bats. Because one of them takes pollen from flowers.
Pa: Do they spread flowers?
Brontë: There's one bat who does. Hairy-legged nectar bat.
Pa: What was your favourite bat?
Brontë: My favourite bat? Let's see. There are a lot of cool bats. I like this bat, the Gambian epaulleted bat (*bit of a struggle in the middle of that*). Anyway, this bat, the Ma and baby, they fly together and they do everything together, it's like they are attached to each other, and before they are about to fly, the Mom milks the baby until the baby is large and fat and full, and that gets his wings strong.
Oh! And I like these bats that I think are all brothers and sisters I think they are all stuck together when they are sleeping.
Pa: Would you like to sleep upside down?
Brontë: Mmm ... yep, as long as I had a tree and my feet were attached to it because if they weren't I'd be awake all night.
Pa: So what are you reading next?
Brontë: Umm ... maybe Harry Potter.
Pa: What about My Dead Girlfriend. The first bit is a bit tough, but then the rest just flies by.
Brontë: Did you read it?
Pa: Yep.
Brontë: How long did it take?
Pa: I read it in a day.
Brontë: Wow!
Pa: It will take you longer, but you'll dig it.
Brontë: Okay, I'll read that next.
Pa: Cool.
July 4, 2016
I have to be honest, I have no clue how to review this book. Obviously I am not a four-year-old and I never will have kids so I could not say how this book would work with a kid but I am sure I would've loved it had I came across it at the targeted reading age, but the truth is that I am interested in bats and typed the word "bats" into my local library and all I could locate was a batch of books intended for kids, so I did what anyone interested in these mammals would do, take every single one out. This is one of (more to come) calls for guidance from anyone who knows about any books on this subject matter that are aimed at adults or college kids or anything, really . . .
As for this one, it includes corny bat jokes and a picture of a bat swallowing a frog so bonus points there for a good laugh.
As for this one, it includes corny bat jokes and a picture of a bat swallowing a frog so bonus points there for a good laugh.
November 3, 2016
What better time of year than October to read this informational text (interest level: K-2) about bats? This National Geographic Kids book is chocked full of interesting facts about bats, and it provides an opportunity for students to get more acquainted with the anatomy of a nonfiction book: table of contents, vocabulary terms, glossary, etc. This book also works hard to de-stigmatize bats in the minds of young students (Did you know that only 3 out of 1,200+ types of bats are vampire bats?). Not only is there a section devoted to addressing common myths about bats, but the text also frequently compares and contrasts bats to humans to establish similarities (both mammals, both have eight fingers and two thumbs, etc.).
“Bats” would be an excellent way to incorporate a “Halloween” themed topic into an appropriate classroom lesson (which can be a challenge sometimes!). This book exposes students to several excellent vocabulary words that can apply to many scientific areas (i.e.: mammal, nocturnal, ecosystem, nectar, etc.). It would be beneficial to further discuss the book’s terms as a class, encouraging students to compare, contrast, and make connections with other animals and environments they have learned about.
I also like how “Bats” exposes children to important ideas about animal conservation and ecosystem balance. While it may be difficult for young children to fully understand pollination/bats’ role in pollination, the idea of rescuing baby bats after a powerful storm should resonate with children. I believe it is important to discuss taking care of animals and the earth from a very young age, and I think students would enjoy sharing stories about how they once helped save an animal, insect, plant, etc.
“Bats” would be an excellent way to incorporate a “Halloween” themed topic into an appropriate classroom lesson (which can be a challenge sometimes!). This book exposes students to several excellent vocabulary words that can apply to many scientific areas (i.e.: mammal, nocturnal, ecosystem, nectar, etc.). It would be beneficial to further discuss the book’s terms as a class, encouraging students to compare, contrast, and make connections with other animals and environments they have learned about.
I also like how “Bats” exposes children to important ideas about animal conservation and ecosystem balance. While it may be difficult for young children to fully understand pollination/bats’ role in pollination, the idea of rescuing baby bats after a powerful storm should resonate with children. I believe it is important to discuss taking care of animals and the earth from a very young age, and I think students would enjoy sharing stories about how they once helped save an animal, insect, plant, etc.
October 2, 2019
Summary:
Bats is an informational children’s book that provides facture nature details about the mammal, bats. The author specifically describes the long eared bat and its habitat. It describes the bat’s physical characteristics as well as how unique bats are compared to other mammals.
Evaluation:
I like this book for ages K-3. The illustrations grab the readers’ attention. The author does a great job introducing new vocabulary while supporting the reader with context clues and illustrations. This book is appropriate for younger ages because it is simple vocabulary, but extremely informative.
Teaching Moment:
I think this non-fictional text is a great read for younger grades. The illustrations in the text match the words, which allows the reader to draw conclusions of un-known words through visuals. I’d like to use this book in a science content area to use the information to enhance the students’ knowledge onto of their prior knowledge of mammals. I would use this book to implement the strategy, using illustrations and context clues to define unknown words.
Bats is an informational children’s book that provides facture nature details about the mammal, bats. The author specifically describes the long eared bat and its habitat. It describes the bat’s physical characteristics as well as how unique bats are compared to other mammals.
Evaluation:
I like this book for ages K-3. The illustrations grab the readers’ attention. The author does a great job introducing new vocabulary while supporting the reader with context clues and illustrations. This book is appropriate for younger ages because it is simple vocabulary, but extremely informative.
Teaching Moment:
I think this non-fictional text is a great read for younger grades. The illustrations in the text match the words, which allows the reader to draw conclusions of un-known words through visuals. I’d like to use this book in a science content area to use the information to enhance the students’ knowledge onto of their prior knowledge of mammals. I would use this book to implement the strategy, using illustrations and context clues to define unknown words.
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December 5, 2019Bats is by Elizabeth Carney. This is a informational book where there is lots of facts about bats and beautiful geography picture. It has so many different types of bats and the facts about them. All the pictures are taken from the camera and it's an actual pictures of bats.
Strategies for use in the classroom: Students will able to see different types of bats and will be able to watch different types of geography bats video. Students will have more knowledge about bats and able to enjoy looking at the pictures as well.
Strategies for use in the classroom: Students will able to see different types of bats and will be able to watch different types of geography bats video. Students will have more knowledge about bats and able to enjoy looking at the pictures as well.
September 6, 2017
Great book for curious readers! Bats is full of information that students will enjoy reading about. I would say it's about 1st grade level. One thing I enjoyed about this book is the Bat myths! This page is about different myths about bats and the true facts about bats! This page is interesting because there are so many myths that many people may believe to be true! This is a very interesting book!
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December 3, 2019Summary: This book provide facts about bats and their characteristic and different types of bat.
Evaluation: This book use real photography of bats.
Normal font and simple vocabulary and explain through real photography.
Strategies for classroom use: This book can be use in science to show the characteristic of bats and their facts
Classroom activities: I would divide student in group of five and their assignment will be writing ten facts about the bats.
Evaluation: This book use real photography of bats.
Normal font and simple vocabulary and explain through real photography.
Strategies for classroom use: This book can be use in science to show the characteristic of bats and their facts
Classroom activities: I would divide student in group of five and their assignment will be writing ten facts about the bats.
October 1, 2020
I love the photographs that show the diversity of bats, all the information, and the great text features. My favorite part was learning about bats and seeing some of the bat faces that look funny but are perfect for echolocation! I would definitely use this book in my future classroom with ages K-3 to learn about bats or to learn about text features.
copyright-2012
theme-bats
copyright-2012
theme-bats
October 9, 2024
This week, I used this book with two library programs. I read some of the text and shared pictures with preschool-aged children. With (mostly) school-aged children, I read the majority of the text, shared pictures, and shared the jokes that appeared on some of the pages. The older kids (ages 4-8) loved the book, while the younger kids enjoyed the pictures and fun facts.
May 1, 2019
Jam packed with loads of facts. Well organized. A great learning tool for littles with questions.
December 4, 2019
Interesting fact book! Paired with a fictional bat book, fun to look at and learn. Great for elementary school students.
March 5, 2020
3.5 stars - read with a student
April 1, 2020
I really like that National Geographic made books geared towards younger children. This book has a lot of pictures, but also give important information about Bats in it.
February 16, 2021
Not the greatest subject but very well written
November 4, 2025
Maddie is a big fan of bats. We both agreed these were not the best jokes of the series. 😂
December 4, 2019
Have you ever wonder where bats live or where they sleep? This book Bats written by Elizabeth Carney gives out a lot of information about bats. One interesting fact that was sated in the book is there are some bats that can be as big as 6ft long.
October 15, 2016
Bats!!! Anytime I think about bats I get a little grossed out, but it just so happens that what grosses adults out is what is often the most interesting to children.
This book is a great informational text on the topic of bats. It could be used a group lesson for ages K-3, or independently for grades 2-3. This National Geographic text has wonderful pictures to showcase bats and all their unique characteristics. The non-fiction structure is set up to really allow students to understand the information the author is giving us. The features in the text are great way to get students to understand the importance of text features like diagrams, labels, captions, etc. I think this book had interesting information but it also has a joke on every couple of pages that the students love.
I choose this book as a WOW book because of its wonderful non-fiction text features that are not to overwhelming for students. The pictures are creepy but very cool and kids love to be able to see all the details in the photos. Bats are always fun to study in the month of October, and it led to a lot of my students wanting to head towards the library to check out more books on bats, which is always a good thing!
This book is a great informational text on the topic of bats. It could be used a group lesson for ages K-3, or independently for grades 2-3. This National Geographic text has wonderful pictures to showcase bats and all their unique characteristics. The non-fiction structure is set up to really allow students to understand the information the author is giving us. The features in the text are great way to get students to understand the importance of text features like diagrams, labels, captions, etc. I think this book had interesting information but it also has a joke on every couple of pages that the students love.
I choose this book as a WOW book because of its wonderful non-fiction text features that are not to overwhelming for students. The pictures are creepy but very cool and kids love to be able to see all the details in the photos. Bats are always fun to study in the month of October, and it led to a lot of my students wanting to head towards the library to check out more books on bats, which is always a good thing!
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December 15, 2014In this Level 2 Reader, kids learn about one of the most interesting creatures and discover the bat’s unique place in the wild and in the world. I would recommend any of the National Geographic Readers, but this one in particular plays to the reader who has ever been an out-cast for their uniqueness.
This is an informational text as it provides an accurate account of the life of a bat. Facts range from sleeping upside down to flocking by the hundreds.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
This is an informational text as it provides an accurate account of the life of a bat. Facts range from sleeping upside down to flocking by the hundreds.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
August 3, 2015
I started reading, the National Geographic children's books, a few days ago. I really enjoy them, and as an adult, I am learning a lot from them.
Classmates of mine, caught, and brought bats into school. Ous science teacher took them from class to class, and show them to us, and taught us a little bit about them. This book tells about the many kinds of bats are in the world. They eat a lot of bugs. I enjoy seeing bats fly at night, knowing they are eating a lot of unwanted bugs. The photography is excellent, and I learned a lot.
Classmates of mine, caught, and brought bats into school. Ous science teacher took them from class to class, and show them to us, and taught us a little bit about them. This book tells about the many kinds of bats are in the world. They eat a lot of bugs. I enjoy seeing bats fly at night, knowing they are eating a lot of unwanted bugs. The photography is excellent, and I learned a lot.
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November 27, 2019Summary: Bats live in spooky caves, in forests, especially in the dark. They sleep while hanging upside down. This is a Level 2 Reader with a chance to learn facts about bats.
Illustrator: Nill
Evaluations of illustrations and text: The pictures are realistic and are very appealing to the eye, along with the text because they are all white lettering for the most part. ]
Strategies for classroom: This book can be used by first reading the book and learning important facts about them and then after making a poster using bat picture and all of the bats information gained in the book.
Illustrator: Nill
Evaluations of illustrations and text: The pictures are realistic and are very appealing to the eye, along with the text because they are all white lettering for the most part. ]
Strategies for classroom: This book can be used by first reading the book and learning important facts about them and then after making a poster using bat picture and all of the bats information gained in the book.
July 10, 2011
This was a very informative book. My son (5 yrs old) loves having this book read to him. He loves learning about animals, and loved learning about bats. Of course, the pictures are fantastic! What else would you expect from National Geographic.
February 21, 2015
I paired this non-fiction book "Bats" with the book "Bats at the Beach". While "Bats" has interesting information about bats and their daily lives, "Bats at the Beach" is a super fun and obviously fictional book kids can laugh at and enjoy. I think this is the strongest twin pair I have.
October 9, 2010
Nice nonfiction reader with great photos of different types of bats. Covers all the basics, plus has some cool trivia.
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July 26, 2012Bats
July 30, 2012
We've been making our way through the National Geographic readers this summer, and my son loves them. Bats was a favorite and I agree with another reviewer who said it makes you want a pet bat! :)
March 7, 2013
Geddy rad 6-16-13
December 11, 2013
I enjoyed reading this book very much. The life of Bats. How they live and eat.
May 4, 2014
I love using this nonfiction series to help my students understand text features and how to paraphrase nonfiction information. Highly engaging photographs and text.
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April 28, 2017informative book about bats. i think the students would love the pictures!
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May 3, 2019This book is a fun educational book about bats. A child can easily learn about the many bats presented in this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews