The Girl and the Little Bat

Mia is a curious girl with warm brown skin, curly black hair in two puffy buns and a gap-toothed smile, who spends her evenings by the window wondering what animals do after dark. One night a tiny brown bat no bigger than her palm flutters into her room, wearing a little silver bell on a blue cord. She names him Pip and soon discovers his secret: he makes tiny clicks, listens to the echoes bouncing off the walls, the bed and the lamp, and finds his way without bumping into anything. Mia realises she has witnessed echolocation, and she cannot wait to share it.

The next morning she brings her discovery to Ms. Rosa, who wears round glasses and a green cardigan and turns the idea into a class demonstration. With her friend Leo in his orange striped sweater and backwards blue cap, the children close their eyes, click and clap, build echo chains with a wooden pointer stick and play a hiding game in which Mia is the bat and the echoes lead her straight to her friends. Along the way they learn how bats use their large ears to catch the faintest returning sound and judge whether something is near or far. This tale by Çınar BİBER can be read on Masalcı Baba.