BAT IN THE DINING ROOM

``A bat flew into the dining room,/at the hotel restaurant by the lake./Mistake.'' Dragonwagon (Alligators and Others All Year Long, 1993, etc.) pens a lilting, loosely rhymed text about a bat who finds itself in an alien indoor environment, the human pandemonium that ensues, and the observant little girl who imagines how the bat must feel. She sensibly opens the emergency exit door to let it fly free, ``a moving breeze of joy against the sky.'' Schindler's detailed colored pencil and watercolor illustrations contrast the peace of a summer night—moonlight shining on the lake and on the brown-shingled walls of a grand old lake resort—with the brightly lit frenzy inside, where hysterical diners scramble to escape the bat. Only Melissa holds still and keeps her wits about her. Her identifying with the frightened bat will draw readers in, and her pleasure at its escape provides a satisfying conclusion. A surprising, lovely book. (Picture book. 5-8)