BAILEY THE BAT AND THE TANGLED MOOSE

Bailey is a little brown bat with a spirit of adventure who finds much to explore in the daylight.

One morning Bailey hears unusual loud noises coming from the forest, and they are too intriguing to ignore. Nervously and with pounding heart, Bailey leaves all the other brown bats sleeping and flies out of the roost to the forest, discovering Matty, a young bull moose whose antlers are badly tangled in fence ropes. Matty’s parents cannot hear his cries, and a dangerous pack of wolves is getting too close for comfort. Bailey attempts to untangle the frightened moose, using claws and sharp teeth, but cannot break the thick rope. With the wolves getting closer, Bailey emits loud, high-pitched squeaks to declare an emergency, knowing that Mama and all the other brown bats will come flying to the rescue. Mama sends some bats to get Matty’s parents and dozens more to chew the ropes. Matty is free, his parents arrive in time to charge the wolves, and Matty hails Bailey as a hero. Aimed at emergent readers, Lawrence’s brief, descriptive text keeps the action moving while carefully incorporating bat facts. Always referred to by name, Bailey is assigned no gendered pronouns and is kind, brave, and resourceful. Setting them against colorful Canadian scenery, Landry depicts the animals sympathetically as cartoons with a just-right touch of accuracy.

A satisfying adventure with a hint of more to come. Hooray for Bailey.