BEDS, BATS, & BEYOND

The sun’s coming up and it’s time for bat children to go to bed. Something is wrong, though, and bat brother Fink can’t sleep. Fang has just the thing for his brother: a scary story of a scary, stinky swamp with an even scarier and stinkier monster, Swamp Owl. Though Fang spins quite a tale, all it does is terrify Fink. Brother Batrick tells his own adventure story filled with pirates. Even sister Batsy gets in on the act with her story of love and kisses. Nothing will do until Mom Bat tells just the right tale. Gallagher-Cole fills her amusing black-and-white illustrations with images of a terrified, exhausted Fink clutching his stuffed bat doll while swamp bats, pirates and an eye-shadowed Cleobatra keep him awake. The stories-within-the-story are set apart inside a frame, making the overall narrative easy to follow. New readers will stay awake to read this one, filled as it is with silly wordplay, funny stories and frequent spot drawings. Insomnia, with a side of hilarity. (Early reader. 5-8)