Owl Bat, Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (Walker Books)

Here's a really neat idea for a wordless picture book that has a heartwarming core message, and a rather neat twist or two...!
Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick's sublime "Owl Bat, Bat Owl" is the sort of book that takes a relatively simple idea (flipping the book upside town) and runs with it to produce something truly original and fun.

In the story, Mummy Owl and her three little owls live happily on the branch of a tree. One day a new family move in. Not owls, but bats!

Mummy Owl and her children are a bit worried and wary. Likewise the Bat Family are also a bit worried about their hooting neighbours.

You see, despite both being nocturnal, owls just don't mix with bats, and bats don't mix with owls.

Can the two families overcome their differences, and realise that being friends is far more fun than keeping segregated and separate? It takes a crazy windy night to make both owls and bats realise that sometimes you need to help each other out in dangerous situations.

Delightful and enchanting, it'll drive you batty - or owly - with glee.

"Owl Bat, Bat Owl" by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is out now, published by Walker Books.