October is just a few weeks away. And it is the perfect month for learning about night animals leading up to Halloween. Check out these 12 brilliant bat books for your your classroom or homeschool.
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1. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat By Lucille Colandro: We love all the books in this series, but this one is definitely a favorite. We always love finding out what the little old lady is going to do after swallowing all kinds of unusual things in the surprise ending. The repetitive text is perfect for little ones learning to retell and reread their favorite stories.
2. Bats By Gail Gibbons: All of Gail Gibbons’ nonfiction books make a great addition to any unit of study and this one is no exception. Lots of detailed illustrations, labels, and text features that help young readers understand the topic better.
3. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats By Ann Earle: An easy introduction to the many characteristics and behaviors of bats. This book also includes information about how people can help bats and how to build a bat house.
4. Stellaluna By Janell Cannon: In an unfortunate turn of events Stellaluna is separated from her mother, and finds herself taken in by a family of birds. She has to forget all of the bat behaviors she knows and learn the ways of a bird. In the end, she is reunited with her bat family and learns an important lesson.
5. Bats at the Beach By Brian Lies: A creative take on what bats like to do for fun. Kids will get a kick out of the silly antics like marshmallows with bug legs, and wing boat races.
6. National Geographic Kids Bats By Elizabeth Carney: This book has lots of interesting information, addresses several myths, and has fantastic photographs. A must have book for a science unit on bats.
7. Bat Jamboree By Kathi Appelt: This rhyming counting book is sure to be a hit with little listeners. The bats perform as readers practice counting up to 10 then back down again building anticipation and excitement for the grand finale.
8. Bats at the Library By Brian Lies: Similar to Bats at the Beach this book shows just what bats would do if they were to spend night in the library. The pictures in this title are just as gorgeous as the last and the rhyming text and silly bat antics appeal to young readers.
9. The Magic School Bus in the Bat Cave: Who doesn’t love an adventure with Ms. Frizzle? Bats are living at Tim’s house, so Ms. Frizzle and her class are on the case! Lots of fascinating information about bats in a fun narrative style .
10. Bats Around the Clock By Kathi Appelt: Similar to Bat Jamboree, this rhyming book is fun but has a math concept to teach: time. The bats dance around as the mouse holds up the clock showing the time on each page. A great pick for reading when teaching time to the hour.
11. Nightsong: In this sweet story a mother bat teaches her baby bat to be independent and use his strengths to find his way. This book weaves in learning about echolocation along with a great narrative story. Lots of rich vocabulary and great artwork make this book a new favorite.
12. Bats Love the Night By Nicola Davies: Another great non fiction book that reads more like a story but has lots of great information sprinkled throughout. This book specifically tells about the behaviors and characteristics of the pipistrelle bat, which would be a great starting point for comparing with other bat types.
If you are still a little overwhelmed trying to decide which books to use and what skills to practice, I am taking all the guesswork out of that for you!
I created this Bats: Read & Respond resource to go along with 5 of my favorite bat books above. It is the perfect way to strengthen comprehension and writing skills along with some fun craftivities to keep your kids engaged! And all of the activities are differentiated for K-2 and Common Core aligned.
Practice sequencing a story with There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro.
Then write your own “old lady” story, deciding what silly things she will eat and what crazy things will pop out.
Learn new vocabulary with Bats by Gail Gibbons.
Write a nonfiction book to summarize learning.
Then display with this adorable bat labeling craft.
Compare and contrast Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle with Bats by Gail Gibbons.
Then write an opinion piece about whether or not you think bats are creepy or not.
Identify story elements and decide whether you’d rather be a bat or bird with Stellaluna by Janell Cannon.
Then compare the characters from Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies with Stellaluna by Janell Cannon.
And write your own version of Bats at the _____. Illustrate a background scene and create a cute bat craft to flit around your story.
You can grab all of these activities here Bats: Read & Respond, happy fall!
Where can I find these bat activities to go with these reads? I own all of these books and would love to purchase these to accompany them 🙂
You can find the activities here: https://mrsplemonskindergarten.com/product/bats-reading-comprehension-writing-and-craftivities