Karen Leggett (Children's Literature)
This is a delightfully warm and gentle story that weaves facts about bat biology into a simple story of a baby bat that loses its mother to a predator but is adopted by another mother bat. The author’s note assures us that scientists are investigating what appears to be the possibility that some Mexican free-tailed bats are raised by bats that are not their genetic mothers. Illustrated in soft, flowing watercolors that depict such details as the mother bat folding up her tail membrane to keep the newborn “from falling down, down, down to the waiting, hungry beetles on the cave floor,” young readers learn how the mother bat identifies her baby by its sound and smell and also how the mother needs to eat nearly her weight in insects every night so she can nurse her infant. It is during one of those nighttime forays that the mother bat is snatched out of the air by an owl. It is certainly a sad, albeit natural, occurrence between predator and prey, but the illustrations are not gruesome or scary. After a few frightening moments, the motherless baby and a childless mother are wrapped around each other. This would be an excellent read-aloud either for families ready to discuss birth and death among animals or classes learning about mammals, habitats, and animal ecology. 2006, Charlesbridge, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 12))
Markle successfully presents the astonishing world of Bracken Cave, the largest nursing colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. As they follow the activities of one mother and her newborn, youngsters (and adults) will effortlessly absorb the facts woven throughout: habitat, eating habits, echolocation, communication, predators, social network and childrearing. At the end of the baby's first week, his survival is in the balance when his mother fails to return. But another mother who has lost her own baby steps in to care for him. Marks's watercolor artwork is amazingly detailed-close-ups of the animals are lifelike, while wider-angle views give a realistic impression of the huge numbers of bats in the cave. Backmatter includes a list of resources, a bulleted list of brief facts and an author's note explaining that research on the raising of Mexican free-tailed bats is ongoing, and new findings could refute what is presented here as fact. Nonetheless, this is a must for every nonfiction collection and bat fan. 2006, Charlesbridge, 32p, $15.95. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 5 to 9. Starred Review. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nelda Brangwin (Library Media Connection, February 2007)
Well-written prose like free verse tells the story of a Mexican freetail baby bat and his mother living in a cave in Texas. Young readers who delight in television's Discovery Channel and Animal Planet will request this book to be read again and again. The real facts of life are not ignored in this book. One senses the cave habitat with babies and mothers packed close together. One learns the way mother and baby recognize one another when the mother returns from her nocturnal search for food. Tragedy occurs when an owl kills the mother. A female whose baby has died adopts the baby. Markle draws from research in her telling of this story and includes Web sites for further research. The watercolor illustrations show great detail from the story. At times, readers will need the text to understand the illustrations. Not only will this book be used for group storytelling and individual reading, it will provide a way of introducing nonfiction facts within fiction for science and environmental studies. Because of its subject, Little Lost Bat will have an audience beyond the intended ages of primary aged children. It doesn't talk down to children interested in natural science. Recommended. 2006, Charlesbridge Publishing, 32pp., $15.95 hc. Ages 5 to 9.

Timothy C. Williams (Science Books and Films (Vol. 43, No. 1))
Forty years ago, when studying the bats of Bracken cave, Texas, biologists were baffled by how a mother bat in this immense nursery colony could find her own baby among the millions of other infants. Now, after some excellent research, the answers are presented in a fine book for children. It is a rare treat to find a book that relates solid science at an elementary level. This story sets the scene: a mass of seething carnivorous beetles waiting inside the great cave for a bat to fall, hungry owls and other raptors waiting outside the cave entrance. This picture is contrasted with the tenderness of birth and mother-infant interactions and the safety afforded by the great numbers of bats. Echolocation and flight maneuvers performed by bats in the aerial pursuit of prey are accurately described. When one mother bat is captured by an owl, the author presents a detailed scenario for adoption by a foster mother, based on scientific evidence. The book is beautifully produced with full-color watercolors, often spreading over two pages. A useful section on further elementary readings also gives the addresses of Web sites whose topic is bats. The depiction of the life of a bat rings true, sticking close to the facts, without anthropomorphism. This can be a read-aloud or read-alone book that could be used through elementary school for solid discussions of animal behavior and ecology, such as the costs and benefits of living in large groups. The only faults I could find are that the cave described is near San Antonio, not Austin, and the landscape around the cave entrance is not as depicted in the illustrations. C.I.P. Highly Recommended, Grades PreK-6. 2006, Charlesbridge, 32pp., $23.95. Ages 4 to 12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2007)
With an engaging voice and with facts cleanly woven into the narrative, Markle describes the first few weeks in the life of a baby Mexican free-tailed bat. Near the end, mother meets up with a deadly barn owl, but neither Marks nor Markle anthropomorphize, and Marks renders the bats with accuracy. Hope for the orphaned bat is offered through a new motherly connection. Category: Nonfiction-Science. 2006, Charlesbridge, 32pp, 15.95. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.