Step aside summer novels, it’s bat book season.
08.05.26
By Paul Hormick & Wendy K. Probst
Speed, adrenaline-pumping adventure, mystery, sci-fi, romance, love stories, friendship, and a whole lot of “What? Wait! No way! Wow!” Not to mention a heavy dose of world-renowned scientific bat expertise and bat facts that you can drop into your next casual conversation. Then there is the joy of getting the kids curious about bats (future bat scientists are sure to abound). Look out The Odyssey fans, the 50-million-year-old tale of bats is even more ancient and epic.
When it comes to page-turners, we’ve got 12 bat books that have it covered: for those who are already smitten by the world’s only flying mammals and those who are sure to fall in love with the wonderous world of bats while reading. Step aside summer novels, it’s bat book season.
For Young Pups
Stellaluna
A fruit bat eating worms? Knocked from her mother’s roost and landing in a bird’s nest, Stellaluna is a baby bat that tries to adapt to the bird behaviors of her new baby bird companions. Ultimately reunited with her mother, Stellaluna learns along the way that everyone is different, yet we can all still accept one another and be friends. Containing interesting bat facts, Janell Cannon may have given us the first children’s book about bats.
I’m Not Scary
Bat is just a cute little guy. He’s nice. He even bakes! (OK, he does live deep in a forest, in a gnarly old oak tree, which is kind of scary.) Bat just wants to be friends, but everybody he tries to visit—the mice, the squirrels, even the bears — are afraid of him when he comes around to share the cake he’s made. Children’s author Raahat Kaduji has warmly illustrated her story of sweet characters where friendship triumphs.
Bat Count
Anna Forrester, aided by illustrator Susan Detwiler, took on a daunting challenge: write a children’s book about white-nose syndrome, a disease that has decimated North American bat species. They give us Jojo, a girl who learns from her mother that bats aren’t scary and they can even be beneficial. As Jojo preps for a bat count, she learns the numbers of bats has dwindled due to white-nose syndrome. Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story still becomes a story of hope as it illustrates to young readers they can help bats and the rest of the environment through community science.
Amara and the Bats
The rescue of a bat in her attic turns Amara into a devoted bat lover. She loves collecting bat facts, and will even hang upside down, batlike, from her bunk bed. But when Amara moves to a new town, she can’t enjoy watching bats. Their roosts are gone because nearby trees are being chopped down. But as Amara learns of other young people making a difference, she steps forward to help her local bats. A debut for children’s author/illustrator Emma Reynolds, this bat fact-filled story with endearing illustrations teaches children they can take action and make a difference.
Little Red Bat
There is a chill in the air and leaves are falling, should Little Red Bat stay through winter? Or should he migrate to where it’s warm? It seems that all the animals in the forest, from squirrel to sparrow, have an opinion. With illustrations by Christina Wald, Carole Gerber has given us a book in which children learn a number of bat facts. Some species roost in trees, not in caves; some use camouflage. Children also learn some bats migrate, some hibernate, and there can be a dilemma for little red bats, which can do both.
The Bat Book: Afraid of a Bat? What’s Up with That?
How about a bat book “written” by a bat? L.B. is a juvenile bat who lives under a bridge in Austin, Texas. Overhearing some human kids say some unkind and untrue things about bats —“Bats are weird!” “Bats are ugly and scary!”— L.B. decides to write and illustrate a book to teach kids the truth about bats. Besides learning about bats, children learn of the agency they can take to better the world and help bats as well. L.B. was helped by the human author Conrad J. Storad and human illustrators Nate and Tristan Jensen.
For Naturalists & the Bat-Curious
The Secret Lives of Bats
At the age of 17, Merlin Tuttle discovered thousands of bats in a cave outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. That teen experience inspired Tuttle to spend a lifetime specializing in bat ecology, behavior, and conservation. As a wildlife photographer, he has photographed all 46 U.S. bat species. In The Secret Lives of Bats,Tuttle shares his experiences of exploring and conserving bats and their habitats. Along the way, he has encountered Kentucky moonshiners, man-eating tigers, and charging elephants. He gives examples of bats’ intelligence and incredible memories. Tuttle, who has a Ph.D. in biology also expounds on bats’ ecological significance as well as their benefits for humans.
The Weird and Wonderful World of Bats
With The Weird and Wonderful World of Bats,Dr. Alyson Brokaw delves into the many amazing characteristics that make bats, well…bats. The behavioral ecologist, adjunct professor, and regular contributor to The Bat Pub devotes separate chapters to the inner workings of each bat sense — sight, smell, hearing, echolocation, touch —and takes a curiosity-driven dive into subjects like mating, with beguiling intros like: “Bat Love,” “Kinky Bats,” and “Leks Get it On.” Brokaw also delves into how bats learn, fly, and communicate. Written in an engaging and accessible style and filled with photos, this affectionately created book is ideal for anyone who longs to learn more about the singularly spectacular world of winged mammals.
The Genius Bat: The Secret Life of the Only Flying Mammal
Weaving the experiences of research from the deserts of Israel to wet rainforests, ecologist Yossi Yovel captures the wonder and delight that come with bat research. He recounts his travels to caves, jungles, and islands accompanied by colleagues such as long-time bat researcher Brock Fenton and Princeton Associate Professor of Animal Behavior Gerald Carter to explore bats’ extraordinary adaptations to diverse habitats. If you are curious how scientists think about and devise experiments to study bats, The Genius Bat: The Secret Life of the Only Flying Mammal is for you.
Bats of the World: A Guide to Every Family
In a sea of books that help us identify birds, reptiles, and all manner of mammals, where on earth do we turn to identify bats? With an eye to the 1,500 (and counting) species that comprise the order of mammals known as Chiroptera, Bats of the World: A Guide to Every Family spotlights the Yin (Yinpterochiroptera) and Yang (Yangochiroptera) suborders of bat species to describe and distinguish the nearly two dozen genera of bats. There are close-up photos of each highlighted species, maps showing their distribution, and easy to digest explanations of bat diets, anatomy, sleep habits, and physiology (to name just a few topics covered). This hot-off-the press book by renowned bat experts and BCI scientists Dr. Winifred Frick and Dr. Teague O’Mara is an instant household (or travel) staple for anyone with bat curiosity.
Bat Island
Reality T.V.’s got nothing on this page turner. While some books pan out to cover bat species around the world, Bat Island: A Rare Journey into the Hidden World of Tropical Bats zooms in to a tiny and incredibly diverse island in Lake Gatun in Panama. Barro Colorado Island hosts a whopping 76 bat species! Created with cinematic style, with over 150 photographs by National Geographic photographer Christian Ziegler, and written by a team of dedicated Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute scientists: Rachel A. Page, Dina K.N. Dechmann, Teague O’Mara, and Marco Tschapka, this book explores the strategies, adaptations, and surprisingly eclectic eating habits each species uses to thrive on this island. Bat Island is an homage to the bats of Barro Coronado Island and to the ecological importance of bats worldwide.
Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species
In this 400-page heavyweight bat books, Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species provides in-depth profiles and detailed summaries of the myriad identified bat species in the world. Brimming with bat facts and maps of bat species ranges, this book also finds room for lavish and large photographs by noted wildlife photographer and bat expert Merlin Tuttle. Author Marianne Taylor divides her book into the phylogeny (family tree) of Yinpterochiroptera, and Yangochiroptera, the modern suborders that replace the older “megabats” and “microbats” split.
Paul Hormick, author of the environmental newsletter The Green Dispatch, a frequent contributor to “The Bat Pub,” and has spent the last 22 years writing about music, food, and the environment.
Wendy K. Probst is the editor of The Bat Pub, and a freelance editor and writer who has devoted her career to working with stellar conservation organizations like Bat Conservation International. She is both driven and anchored by her desire to dream, create, preserve, educate, and empower others.
