a_manning11's review against another edition
5.0
I love this bat! The story is heart-warming, and the illustrations, which manage to show how a bat 'sees' in the dark using their 'song' is amazing. All thumbs up (in my case that's two)!!!
froydis's review against another edition
4.0
This is a beautifully illustrated book! The little bat is so cute! This is a wonderful story about discovering the world through your talents - and teaches children about echolocation as well. Highly recommended!
kellylynnthomas's review against another edition
5.0
THIS IS THE CUTEST BOOK EVER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! I may be biased, as I absolutely adore bats (and they are so good for eating pesky mosquitoes and other insects that are annoying), but if the illustrations of little Chiro don't melt your heart, you don't have one!
The real strength of this book lies in the full-page illustrations. The story deals with Chiro learning how to use echo location. The author explains the concept of echo location in a beautiful manner that children will understand. The illustrator shows how Chiro "sees" by making the majority of the page black and trees indistinct shadows, with a full-color section where Chiro "sings" out to the world.
Another thing I love about this book is the way it portrays bats as a family-based species (which is totally true to science, by the way) that provides a beneficial service: eating insects. Bats save millions and millions of dollars in agricultural damage each year, but they still have a bad rap.
So do yourself and the world a favor, read this book and let it blow your mind with how awesome bats are. (Stella Luna is another great picture book about an adorable bat.)
The real strength of this book lies in the full-page illustrations. The story deals with Chiro learning how to use echo location. The author explains the concept of echo location in a beautiful manner that children will understand. The illustrator shows how Chiro "sees" by making the majority of the page black and trees indistinct shadows, with a full-color section where Chiro "sings" out to the world.
Another thing I love about this book is the way it portrays bats as a family-based species (which is totally true to science, by the way) that provides a beneficial service: eating insects. Bats save millions and millions of dollars in agricultural damage each year, but they still have a bad rap.
So do yourself and the world a favor, read this book and let it blow your mind with how awesome bats are. (Stella Luna is another great picture book about an adorable bat.)
sweetpeppah's review against another edition
4.0
beautiful illustrations of a young bat finding his way in the night.
alysona's review against another edition
3.0
Love,love the background images, but "Chiro" just didn't work for me. He is too cute, fuzzy and cartooning for the rest of the book.
sean67's review against another edition
3.0
Anthropomorphic tale which is really exploring the coming of age story of expanding your borders, exploring new ground and making your way into the world, and still finding your way home again. Well told, without being too heavy handed but clearly making its point. A good read indeed.
asey's review against another edition
3.0
The illustrations were amazing, the story a tad bit on the sappy side. Pretty good overall. Recommend for ages 4 to 7.
emdoux's review against another edition
5.0
I love this adorable story about a little bat whose night vision is not quite up to snuff. Chiro's mother tells him that it's alright that he can't see well in the dark - that he has other, better senses that can help him. The dark illustrations are wonderfully inviting, and the visual reproduction of Chiro's song (his best sense, echolocation) is wonderfully done and is a brilliant way of explaining this concept to young children. The spread with Chiro and his full belly is precious, as well as the following page as he goes off to explore further than his mother said he could. I really thought that this would end up being a story about Chiro ignoring his mother's warning and going too far past the pond, where his song would not be 'strong' enough to show him the way home, but Chiro's successful exploration & return home are a much stronger message. He knew his song was strong enough to explore further, and was rewarded that he was right. A wonderfully warm growing-up story. I could even see this stretching to a first-day-of-school / learning independence from Mom/Dad unit, to be honest.(less)
graventy's review against another edition
4.0
Easily the most poetic of the books I read this week, Nightsong is about a bat learning to use sonar. Very pretty, also pretty wordy.