Ding Bat And His Happy Flying Friends

About the Book

This story is about a fantasy bat family that has been given child like human personalities. It is an ideal book to use in starting story time with your children. The setting, built around the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, is the true home of the largest urban population of 1.5 million bats in the United States. The bridge, a well-known Austin tourist attraction, is an ideal setting to introduce the personalities of Ding Bat And His Happy Flying Friends. The book tells of the time from the bats arrival in April, giving birth in June, learning to fly and secure food in five weeks, preparing to migrate back to Mexico in November, and then returning to Austin the following April to start the cycle again. During their time spent in Austin, their life sustaining activity is of each eating about 1,000 mosquitoes an hour during their nighttime flights. The insect removal is an invaluable contribution to the city of Austin.

About the Author

John Cruzan and Evalen Petrich graduated in 1957 from Bethel High School at Spanaway, Washington. John was Editor of Brave Talk, the school paper, and Evalen was the Associate Editor. Fifty-three years later they were in contact again and John told Evalen that he had always considered writing a children’s book. He told her that he used to tell his children, when they wanted a good night story, a story that always started with “Once upon a time there were 3 bats, Mama Bat, Papa Bat and Ding Bat.” Then he took it in any direction in order to amuse them. Evalen said “Well, why don’t you do it now?” Well, John woke up very early the next day and started excitedly writing down ideas. He called Evalen and told her what he had been doing. She said “Great, did you know that here in Austin, Texas, there are 1.5 million bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin?” John didn’t know that and thought Austin would be a great place for Ding Bat to live. They started working on the story together over the phone. John took a trip to Austin to see the bats. Long story short, they wrote this book together and got married in March 2011 and now both live in Austin. John and Evalen Cruzan