Members Get 10% Off and Earn Rewards Find Out More

Bats at the Ballgame

Add to Wishlist

Bats at the Ballgame

Hardcover(First Edition)

$17.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Hardcover(First Edition)
$17.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

Qualifies for Free Shipping
PICK UP IN STORE
Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Overview

On deck and ready for your reading lineup, New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Brian Lies’s ode to “batty” baseball fans.

You think humans are the only ones who enjoy America’s national pastime? Grab your bat—the other kind—and your mitt, because it’s a whole new ballgame when evening falls and bats come fluttering from the rafters to watch their all-stars compete.

Get set to be transported to the right-side-up and upside-down world of bats at play, as imagined and illustrated by bestselling author-illustrator Brian Lies.

Hurry up! Come one—come all! We’re off to watch the bats play ball!

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547249704
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/06/2010
Series:	A Bat Book
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,069,365
Product dimensions:	10.70(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Brian Lies is the Caldecott honor-winning author-illustrator of New York Times bestsellers Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library, Bats at the Ballgame, and Bats in the Band. He has written and illustrated more than twenty books for children. Born in Princeton, New Jersey, Brian lives on the South Shore of Massachusetts with his family.
www.BrianLies.com

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Baseball stadiums have an innate magic, never more so than in the hands of Lies, whose latest has the winged creatures gathering for an epic game, complete with "beenuts and Cricket Jack," and an upside down audience. Smooth, unhurried rhymes illuminate a hidden world where bats, like humans, "feel a magic shift,/ and ride the currents of the game/ as time is set adrift." Each gleaming page is thick with detail, from the bats' first arrival ("We wing from dark to dazzling bright,/ startled by the stunning sight") to the final play. Fans of the other baseball bats will certainly enjoy these ones. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Baseball stadiums have an innate magic, never more so than in the hands of Lies, whose latest has the winged creatures gathering for an epic game, complete with 'beenuts and Cricket Jack,' and an upside down audience" —Publishers Weekly, starred review "The visual effect is quite stunning, with some fantastically disorienting upside-down spreads to reflect the fans' hanging position, and much of the language is utterly delicious."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Careful readers will find plenty of inventive details to make this latest outing to the bats’ nocturnal world worthwhile." —School Library Journal Praise for Brian Lies’ New York Times best-selling books: Bats at the Beach "Brilliant, brilliant paintings . . . just a whiz-bang summer book, anytime book. Everybody should look at this." —Daniel Pinkwater, NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday "Perfect for sharing with younglings of the wingless sort." —Kirkus Reviews "The book truly soars in the dark yet luminescent art. . . . A grand adventure." —School Library Journal "Fetching . . . [A] wonderful read-aloud." —Newsday Bats at the Library "The library-after-dark setting works a magic all its own, taking Lies and his audience to an intensely personal place." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "[Lies] brings a sure, expressive and transporting hand to this story of a colony of bats paying a nighttime visit to a small-town library." —Kirkus Reviews "Illustrations teem with bats so charming they will even win over chiroptophobes." —Booklist "Another tale of bat mischief . . . the charm is all in the story itself." —New York Times Book Review —

From the Publisher

Gr 3—As in Bats at the Beach (2006) and Bats at the Library (2008, both Houghton Harcourt), Lies's luminous acrylic illustrations are the highlight here. The bats are earnest and cuddly, with translucent eyes and twitchy noses. Here, they're engaged in a topsy-turvy baseball game of dizzying perspectives. The game is played on the ground, though the participants swoop, glide, and soar around the bases and the spectators hang upside down above them in the stands. The illustrations, with brilliant colors and eye-catching details, carry the story when the verses fall flat. Fans will enjoy the bats' version of the game: flying vendors offer mothdogs and Cricket Jack, as the grounds crew marks the baselines with powdered sugar and rakes the pitcher's mound with a fork. Careful readers will find plenty of inventive details to make this latest outing to the bats' nocturnal world worthwhile.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

Previously Lies has given his bats nights at the library and the beach with great success. Now they play night baseball on a ballfield laid out under a circus tent with crowds of bat fans and vendors selling appropriate snacks like "mothdogs." The game proceeds with swoops and slides and a win for the home team. The action is described in verse with the rhymes in easy, breezy aabb form for setup and denouement and heightened "Casey at the Bat" cadences and couplets for the game itself. Lies's acrylic illustrations appear as full- and double-page spreads and scattered, unframed vignettes, and all are filled with copious detail depicting uniforms, regalia and play-by-play. The visual effect is quite stunning, with some fantastically disorienting upside-down spreads to reflect the fans' hanging position, and much of the language is utterly delicious. A broad knowledge of baseball and its place in the American consciousness is assumed, as is an ability to roll with rather sophisticated vocabulary and phrasing. But as a read-aloud by a baseball fan, it's sure to inspire a love of the game—and maybe of bats as well. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Brian Lies continues his bat stories at the baseball park after dark. With cheers, anthems, hits, and strikeouts, the bats shed new light (or darkness) on the American pastime. Teams include the Night Sox, and among the players is Bat Ruth. Chris Sorensen’s narration shines with its clear enunciation. His pacing is deliberate, slow enough that listeners have ample opportunity to appreciate Lies’s lyrical writing. Listen for the one golden moment when the immortal Casey of Mudville has company on the diamond. A.R. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2011 - AudioFile

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews