Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to children and story-time librarians. Some of the rhyming text felt too forced, but in humorous scenes in which the bats take to the photocopier and the water fountain, the rhymes shine. These scenes show the how books and reading can inspire the imagination, and the connection between this book to other pieces of literature could allow for recognition of allusions and discovery of new books for a young (or in this case, older) reader. I especially liked the pages in which the bats imagine themselves as the characters of classic stories like Little Red Riding Hood, T he Wizard of Oz, and the legend of King Arthur. Instead, there’s an air of mystery, imagination, and fun secrecy to the images. Brian Lies’ illustrations, despite the darkness (since it does take place at night), are not gloomy. Impression: I rarely take the opportunity to read children’s books despite my fondness for books meant for young readers, but I can’t resist reading anything that takes place in a library or has “library” in the title. (Aug.Summary: As the saying goes, when the cats away, the mice will play, but when a library’s window is left open, the bats will take it as an … invitation? Written in rhyme, this amusing children’s book written and illustrated by Brian Lies shows a colony of bats enjoying a night with books, games, and storytelling in the library. But the author/artist outdoes himself: the library-after-dark setting works a magic all its own, taking Lies and his audience to a an intensely personal place.
As with its predecessor, this book's richly detailed chiaroscuro paintings find considerable humor at the intersection where bat and human behavior meet. Although the young ones initially misbehave (they make photocopies of their bodies and turn the water fountain into a splash pool), Lies cuts them a little slack: “It's hard to settle down and read/ when life flits by at dizzy speed.” Story time settles everyone (upside-)down, and soon the furry creatures are “completely swallowed up” in books, giving Lies comic license to bat-tify the signature visuals from classics like Make Way For Ducklings ) much-lauded bats are back and the library's got them-thanks to a window left open by an unsuspecting (or perhaps sympathetic) librarian.
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