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Crescent Dragonwagon

Bat in the Dining Room

 

Bat in the Dining Room

The story behind the story

I am so sorry this book is out of print. Definitely my favorite for read-alouds at school visits. “A bat flew into the dining room / at the hotel restaurant, by the lake./ Mistake.” Only “strange Melissa, at school they called her weird” is able to free the bat from the restaurant’s pandemonium of frightened diners. School Library Journal: ” …an evocative, lyrical prose poem in this tale of one frantic flying mammal and one quiet young girl who really cares what happens to it.”

 

 

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. It would be difficult to imagine a less poetic theme than that of a bat accidentally trapped in the posh dining room of a summer resort. However, Dragonwagon has woven an evocative, lyrical prose poem in this tale of one frantic flying mammal and one quiet young girl who really cares what happens to it. While the excited, well-heeled patrons escape to the lobby, and the tuxedo-garbed staff run for brooms and other weapons, Melissa remains alone in the dining room. Unhurriedly, and with calm resolve, she lures the bat to an emergency door, where it flies into the starry night to freedom. The spare text combines internal rhyme and interesting word juxtapositions to create the appropriate mood. The contrast of uproar and quiet, agitation and calm combine to build a story from one brief incident. Schindler’s beautiful illustrations, a combination of colored pencil and watercolor on pastel paper, become a harmonious complement to the text. The artist has juxtaposed the luminous views of a summer night on a lake and the almost-deserted dining room with cartoonlike portraits of the hysterical summer guests, overly dressed and coifed. His careful rendering of the terrified bat in full flight captures the essence of the animal’s beauty and predicament. Not since Janell Cannon’s Stellaluna (Harcourt, 1993) has there been a more attractive bat epic. “Batman and Robin” can wait; young readers will have a much better time at this summer place.?Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kirkus Reviews

“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) — Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, December 1997

The cool-headed, clear-eyed, and compassionate Melissa is a most admirable character….Schindler’s pencil and watercolor illustrations softly depict…a plethora of characters right out of a kinder, gentler Altman movie.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  • Library Binding
  • Publisher: Cavendish Children’s Books (September 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0761450076
  • ISBN-13: 978-0761450078
  • Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds

Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

Bean By Bean Cookbooks

#DeepFeast Recipes

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 for children:

A NAPPA Gold Winner
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"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


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Until Just Moistened

Until Just Moistened

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