Bat and Bird

Hey, something’s wrong.

                      What’s wrong?

Can’t you see?

                      See what?

This book is UPSIDE-DOWN.

                      Upside what?

Upside-down. Topsy-turvy. The sky is on the bottom of the page.

                       Yeah…

The ground and the grass are on the top of the page.

            Right. What’s wrong with that?

Let me show you what’s wrong with that. 

See, I’m dropping this apple from the tree and it’s FALLING UP. 

         Things fall upwards till they land on the ground. It’s called ‘gravity’.

That’s ridiculous. Who are you anyway? I can barely see you!

A bat. A bat! You’re an upside-down bat!

                    Yes, I’m an upside-down bat and you’re in my upside-down bat book. 

Well I’m a bird and I don’t want to be in your bat book, unless…

Everything is turned right side up. There,  that’s so much better.

                      But now I’m upside-down. And this is supposed to be MY book.

Why couldn’t it be our book? 

                     I’m not sure I see what you mean. 

We could share the book. You could be upside-down on your page. I’ll be right-side up on mine.

                        Hey, this works just fine!

I don’t feel dizzy at all.

                      Now it’s our book.

It’s our “Bat and Bird Book”. 

I’m happy to be in this book now. Let’s be friends. Here, have a lychee.

                Thank you. You’re one very smart bird. I’m delighted to be your friend.

Me too. But where are you going? We were just getting to know each another.

                 Morning is coming soon. I’ll be back in a jiffy. 

Pajamas! 

                Sure. I’m a bat. It’s my bedtime soon. Hey, where are you off to? 

I have a surprise for you too. I’ll be right back. 

                Hah! You’re also wearing pajamas!

I sure am. I’m an owl. We sleep during the daytime too.

                  The sun is coming up on our pajama party.

We’d better get some sleep.

Sweet dreams, Bat.

                     Sleep tight, Owl. 

Back Matter – Bats and Owls

Word count = 170

Bats and owls seem alike although, as animals, they evolved quite separately. We call this ‘convergent evolution’.

On the one hand, bats and owls appear similar in many ways. They live in trees. They see and hear extremely well in the dark. Bats and owls are active during the night and sleep during the day. They both have claws. They both have wings and fly through the air. Bats and owls both emit screeching sounds.

Bats and owls, however, are different types of animals. Bats are mammals, just like we are. They give birth to live offspring. Owls are birds. They lay eggs. Bats have teeth just like we do. Owls do not have teeth. They use their sharp beaks to tear food.

Why do bats sleep upside down? As mammals, they are not as good at flying as birds. Sleeping upside down in the air branch helps them take off whenever necessary.

Do bats and owls both wear pajamas? That’s an easy question to answer – only in children’s books!