Hanging with Bats: Ecobats, Vampires, and Movie Stars

This is a great book--everything you wanted to learn about bats and then some. Yes, yes, I know bats may not be your favorite animal, but they are kinda cute in their own way and are actually very helpful to human populations in many ways we often don't recognize. This book talks about how bats grow, live, fly, see, etc. in easy-to-follow language (no gobbledy-gook scientific terms here) and has great illustrations and photos. Definitely a good gift for the budding scientist in your life!

Written for readers age eight to eighty-eight, "Hanging with Bats: Ecobats, Vampires, and Movie Stars" is the first in the new "Worlds of Wonder" science series, geared toward young adults yet thoroughly enjoyable and educational for readers of all ages. Profusely illustrated with stunning color artwork and photography throughout (including some spectacular pictures of a bat catching a small fish, or flying with a dangerous centipede as long as the bat's body dangling from its mouth), Hanging with Bats teaches the reader all about the different types of bats, their life cycles, the biggest threats to their existence, their presence in popular entertainment, and more. Only a tiny fraction of all bats are the legendary blood-sucking vampires; most bats help control pests by eating insects, or pollinate plants when they feed on fruit, and are therefore an invaluable part of the natural ecosystem. "Leave bats alone when they are in their roosts... When bats are hibernating in the winter, they cool down their body temperature almost to the temperature of the air around them. Bats don't go into a deep sleep like bears and are easy to rouse, or wake up. If the bats are disturbed and wake up, they may waste as much as 30 days of energy. Since insects are dead in the winter, the bats have no way to eat and get more energy. They really could die." Enthusiastically recommended for grade school, high school, and children's public library collections, "Hanging with Bats" also makes a great gift for young adults interested in learning more about these fantastic mammals that are surprisingly close relatives to humans.