Megabat
by Anna Humprhey; Illustrated by Kass Reich
Tundra Books (August 7, 2018)
Fiction * Chapter Book * Friendship
Audience: Ages 7 to 9
Indiebound | WorldCat
Description from GoodReads: A sweet and hilarious chapter book about a boy and a bat, two unlikely friends who bond over loneliness, jellyrolls and Darth Vader.
Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It’s big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it’s haunted… or is it?
Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he’s living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there.
Daniel realizes it’s not a ghost in his new house. It’s a bat. And he can talk. And he’s actually kind of cute.
Megabat realizes that not every human wants to whack him with a broom. This one shares his smooshfruit.
Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a light saber and a common enemy and you’ve got a new friendship in the making!
Quick thoughts on the book:
Sometimes a book comes and I look at the release date and feel like I should wait to post about it. To wait till it is closer to release date. But, despite the other books in my bookstacks, this one kept calling to me. Once I picked it up, I had to just read it to the end.
Humphrey has created a sweet story about a young boy who moves to a new home a discovers a lonely fruit bat. Did I mention that the fruit bat can talk? And cries or drips because he is so sad about being separated from his family. The two become friends and with the help of a neighbor, Talia, and bird girl (a female pigeon) they attempt to find a way to get Megabat home -- to Borneo.
I really adored the relationship between Daniel and Megabat. Also the references to Star Wars was a lot of fun. And like any good stories, there must be a bad guy. In this story, Talia's brother Jamie wants to expose Megabat's ability to talk.
In addition to this being a good chapter book for 2nd and 3rd grade readers, I would add this to my read aloud list for first and second graders.
Add this book to your calendar of books to read and look for it at your local indie bookstore.
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