The Bat-Poet

Randall Jarrell has given us a beautiful little story here of a bat and Maurice Sendak has given us some wonderful illustrations in the form of black and white drawings. There is not much to not like about this work. The children love it, and the adult reading it to the children will find it just as interesting and hypnotic as the child, if not more so, but on a different level. The text is wonderfully simple and a pure joy to read. I recommened this one highly.

A beautiful story, beautifully written, about a little bat who composes poetry. One of the best children's books I've ever read; I order several copies at a time and give them for birthday presents.

This book is a gem. It's tender, clever, and deftly written. It's wonderful for reading aloud. I had trouble finding it for years, and I'm so pleased to see that it's available again.

I am thirty-seven now and a teacher; I probably chose this profession because of Mr. Erick Burkett, who taught me and my chums when we were in sixth grade. He was patient and funny. He held us spellbound when he read L'Engle's "Wrinkle in Time". The next year he got married and moved away, but he saw some promise in me (I was constantly writing stories in sixth grade and showing them to him for his approval) and he wrote some very fatherly and wonderful letters to me until I was a senior in high school. When I was a senior he sent me "The Bat Poet" and encouraged me in my writing. Of course I wrote reams of poems after reading it. This is a very special book, especially for timid young students with dreams of being published.

This my favorite children's book. It is as good-- perhaps not as accessible-- as Charlotte's Web. It teaches real lessons about poetry and about loneliness. It asks questions that it can't answer: why do we like to read about things that frighten us? And it conveys the distinction between writing a poem that is praised and writing a poem that evokes real feelings.That The Bat-Poet is so little known has always been a mystery to me. Then again, considering the state of publishing in this country, maybe it's not such a mystery. And maybe it's just as well that word-of-mouth is what brings new readers to the Bat-Poet.