Baby Bat Bedtime

At the end of a warm, dark night in the rainforest, dawn starts to break. Soon, animals will rise to greet the day. But not everyone is waking up. Some animals haven't even been to bed yet! Small brown bats have been busy all night, swooping and looping through the starry skies. Now it is time for them to settle in among the trees. But one baby bat wants to stay up and play. How will her mother convince her it's time to close her eyes and go to sleep?

Lyrical text and soft, soothing illustrations show little readers that from bath time to lullabies, getting ready for bed looks very similar for bat babies and human babies alike.

Fascinating scientific facts and photos from the Smithsonian Bat Lab showcase the amazing lives of bats and reveal how they are not so different from humans in their family behavior.

Paige Towler is an author, editor, and bat lover who lives in Washington, D.C. Her books include Yoga Animals, Mysterious, Marvelous Octopus, GROSS Factopia, and more.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama is home to the Smithsonian Bat Lab, a large group of researchers from all over the world who come to Panama to study bats. This group investigates the stunning diversity of the fascinating bats that inhabit the tropical rainforests.

Gavin was born in Wiltshire, England. From his early childhood he was enthralled with the natural world and would often be found at the bottom of the garden, holding up a snake or some other interesting creature to investigate. Gavin went on to study natural history illustration at university and later entered the world of character design and children’s illustration. He illustrates both fiction and nonfiction books, and also makes prints, paintings, and sculptures of the natural world. He lives in Somerset.