Bats at the Ballgame

Baseball stadiums have an innate magic, never more so than in the hands of Lies, whose latest has the winged creatures gathering for an epic game, complete with "beenuts and Cricket Jack," and an upside down audience. Smooth, unhurried rhymes illuminate a hidden world where bats, like humans, "feel a magic shift,/ and ride the currents of the game/ as time is set adrift." Each gleaming page is thick with detail, from the bats' first arrival ("We wing from dark to dazzling bright,/ startled by the stunning sight") to the final play. Fans of the other baseball bats will certainly enjoy these ones. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)