Catch that Bat! By Adam Frost illustrated by Mark Chambers

I HAVE no doubt that grandson Alfie will quite soon be into computers as well as mischief.

That’s fine. Things have changed just a tad since my uncle George maintained that there wasn’t anything in God’s creation that couldn’t be achieved without baling twine and a sharp penknife.

So before long, our cheeky little chap will undoubtedly be pressing buttons and tapping keys along with everybody else. That’s progress.

All the same, I would like the lad to gain an understanding and appreciation of the natural world. And what better place to start than this charming book from the author of such gems as Stop! There’s a Snake in your Suitcase! and Run! The Elephant Weighs a Ton!

Right from the outset, the author reminds us that it is only our natural senses that can reflect our surroundings with any real accuracy. And that doesn’t just mean sight, either.

For in the darkness of a power cut, it is the sound of a stick on concrete that tells the book’s characters they’re walking on a path. The smell of ivy is another indicator that home cannot be far away.

All this neatly dovetails into the bat bit of this tale, for these mammals have some of the most finely tuned radar systems in Nature. How can they see in the dark? And why don’t they fly into the water when they’re diving low to catch insects?

These are all questions for our heroes Tom and Sophie as they not only discover the parallel universe of the nocturnal world but also have to act quickly when danger threatens.

Catch that Bat! is a cracking read and suitable for children aged from about three upwards.

(Review)

By John Phillpott