Running with the Bats/Corriendo con los murciélagos

Gr 3—5—One dark night, while playing baseball with his friends, Joe sees strange creatures flying across the night sky. At first, he thinks they are birds. They bump into him and seem to attack, prompting him to run. He falls and picks up one that's lying on the ground and realizes that it's a bat. He runs home and it seems that the bats have followed him there. Terrified, Joe tries to scare them away from the screens. When his parents return, he realizes that the bats were not after him, but after the fireflies that were out that night as well. This story is told using an ABCB rhyme scheme in English but not in Spanish. The translation does not flow as well as the English text, which may cause problems if read aloud. The atmospheric pen-and-ink illustrations add to the overall feel of the story. Facts about bats as well as a glossary and discussion points are included.—Roberto Zapata, San Antonio Public Library