The same bats that cavorted in Bats at the Beach are back for another nocturnal adventure on an otherwise dull night. "We've feasted, fluttered, swooped, and soared, / And yet, we're still a little bored." So when "word spreads quickly from afar" that a window has been left ajar at the library, "They flutter off to lose themselves / among the books lined up on shelves." Glowing, flamboyant acrylic full bleed paintings of bats swooping into the library and gliding through the stacks will make your listeners eager to rush right to the library after dark and check out the goings-on.

Once inside, the techno-savvy bats take advantage of all a good library has to offer: the computer, the overhead projector, and even the copier, where they make photocopies of themselves, lying flat under the lid. The water fountain makes a "splendid swimming pool" for the young'uns, though one adult bat shushes them: "Please keep it down-you must behave! / This library is not your cave!"

Storytime calms everyone down. Together, bat kids and parents lose themselves in favorite books, including, of course, Goodnight Sun. You'll recognize lots of the classic titles they share, though all of the characters are depicted as bats; a familiar illustration from Make Way for Ducklings shows baby bats in a line, instead of baby ducks, for instance. See how many other children's classics and characters you and your book-loving viewers can identify in the pictures. You'll notice Little Red Riding Bat, Peter Rabbat, and even Winnie-the-Bat.)

This is an ideal rhyming romp to remind us of all that our libraries have to offer us humans, and a review of how to behave there, too. Children can make a list of books they consider to be classics and draw pictures of them, perhaps substituting bats for the familiar characters. Meet some other animals that love being in a book-filled place in Library Mouse by David Kirk, Library Lion by Michelle Knudson, and Wild About Books by Judy Sierra.

THEMES: BATS. BOOKS AND READING. CHARACTERS IN LITERATURE. LIBRARIES. PICTURE BOOKS FOR ALL AGES. STORIES IN RHYME.