A Boy Called Bat

Doesn’t every kid want a pet? Most kids think of a dog, a cat, a hamster, or a hermit crab, but this story is about trying a new kind of pet: A skunk.

Bixby Alexander Tam, a.k.a. Bat, has his work cut out for him. His mom is a veterinarian. That’s how the skunk got into the house. (At our house, it was Stretchy the Leech. We have a zoologist in the family.) Watching Bat convince his mom that a skunk could be his pet, instead of a ticking time-bomb, was lots of fun. (I love the author’s note about… show more.

This tenderhearted book is narrated by Bixby Alexander Tam (Bat), a boy who falls in love with the orphaned baby skunk his mom brings home. I love that Bat’s autism has a role in the story—his challenges understanding other people cause friction and school and with his sister—but it isn’t the only focus of the book. Bat’s big problem is convincing his mom to let him keep the skunk kit. Readers are drawn into his unique worldview as he experiences friendship, family, and skunk-parenting.

Bat is a sweet young autistic boy who lives with his big sister and veterinarian-mom (and weekends with his loving dad). He adopts and helps raise a baby skunk. The lovely, simple story – aimed at younger, chapter-book readers -- describes Bat’s autism so naturally. This is how I believe all stories of neurodivergent kids should be written: in a way that illuminates and humanizes and shows us what we share – not in a way that pathologizes, or others, or highlights a laundry list of symptoms. 

The Bat stories are charming and simple, and they get it right.