Book Review: The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson

The Bat Scientists
by Mary Kay Carson
Scientists in the Field

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-10: 0-547-19956-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-19956-6
Publication Date: September, 2010
List Price: $18.99

Review: Imagine flying mammals everywhere! You think that would be horrible but it’s not. There is one person who has been dealing with bats for thirty years! Her name is Barbara French. She is the main person in The Bat Scientistswritten by Mary Kay Carson. It is an amazing book that takes place in the United States and Mexico. This book is part of the Scientists in the Field Series. Carson loves her bat inspired job! In this book Barbara French educates people about bats. The Bat Scientist is non-fiction. So if you love non-fiction you’ll like this book. I absolutely loved it.

Being a scientist is not easy. Barbara French has an even harder job. Barbara has a team of bat research scientists. These scientists go out trying to save bats. To do this she studies the bats environment. Sometimes, she visits schools to educate kids about bats. On these she get asked funny questions like do “bats burp”! She is also trying to save endangered bats like vampire bats. Barbara studies how bats live so she can recreate their homes in a safe bat friendly environment. This requires going out in regular places to find bats and see why they live there. Her job can be really challenging. Bats are killed for no reason and most of the time they are harmless to people. Barbara also helps little orphan bats survive without their mothers. She has found away to persuade people to stop killing bats. It is by taking cute pictures of them and writing books to educate people. She has been doing this for three decades. All of her dedication has paid off because tons of people have stopped killing bats. I really like that she keeps trying and never gives up.

I recommend this book to ten years old and older. Out of ten stars I rate this book a nine star because it really teaches you about bats. I love this book because it makes me long to read more about bat lives. I feel my love for nature made this book extra interesting! Mary Kay Carlson is an amazing writer and wrote this book with a lot of interesting facts. However, if you are looking for an easy book to read then don’t pick this book. It is a not a bedtime novel. Nonetheless, The Bat Scientists is one of the best books I have ever read!

Review written by Zain (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of The Bat Scientists for this review.

Have you read The Bat Scientists? How would you rate it?