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Cover of Batcat: Sink or Swim!
Graphic · ages 5–8

Batcat: Sink or Swim!

Written and illustrated by Meggie Ramm

Book 2 of 3 in BatcatView the full series

Batcat faces a new challenge: water. The second book shifts from mystery to friendship, as an unlikely new ally enters the picture and Batcat learns that bat superpowers don't cover everything, sometimes you need someone in your corner.

  • Best for5–8
  • FormatGraphic
  • Length96 pp
  • Read aloud~45 min
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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Conversational
  • Comedic
  • Onomatopoeic

Tone

  • Funny
  • Exciting
  • Adventurous
  • Whimsical
  • Warm
  • Heartwarming

Themes

On the pagebat, swimming, cat, water, friendship, superhero, pool

Experience meters

Energy4/ 5
Humour4/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril2/ 5
Wonder3/ 5
Cosiness3/ 5
Emotional intensity2/ 5
Conceptual intensity2/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

In the sequel, Batcat meets a character who is very good at something she isn't, swimming, and the friendship_formation plot engine takes over from book one's mystery structure. Meggie Ramm uses the change of gear well: where the first book was about discovering what Batcat can do, this one is about discovering what she can't, and what that means for the kind of superhero she becomes. The water-based premise gives the comedy a new physical register; there is a lot of comedic mileage in a bat-cat with a cape attempting to manage a swimming pool situation. The unlikely_friendship character dynamic adds warmth to the action-forward pace without slowing it down. As a second-in-series, it works on its own for readers who haven't read book one, the origin is gestured at but not required. The friendship and resilience deep themes are light but genuine. A strong recommendation for children who responded to the first book's energy and want more Batcat, and for parents looking for a series that shows a protagonist learning from not being good at things.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 5–8
  • Read aloud · 4–7
  • Independent · 6–9

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

3 / 5 · Workable

Sensitive-child

4 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Reluctant readers
  • Animal lovers
  • Friendship themes
  • Graphic novel series
  • Gift book

Avoid if

No common reasons to avoid this one — a rare clean sweep on the sensitivity flags.

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Reluctant reader
  • Making friends
  • Struggling with reading

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A funny, friendly early graphic-novel series — a confidence-builder for new and reluctant readers.

Classroom role

  • Classroom library

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific weight is finding the thing she can't do — Batcat brilliant at flying, useless at swimming, an unlikely new friend turning out to be the answer when the cape meets the pool. The second Batcat where the lesson is what your superpowers don't cover.

  • Magic powers
  • Animal companions
  • Friendship and belonging
  • Adventure and freedom

Why parents love it

The Batcat sequel — friendship-formation engine replacing the first book's mystery, water as a new physical-comedy register, the not-good-at-something theme handled lightly. Works standalone; the origin is gestured at rather than required.

  • Quick to read
  • Shared humour
  • Bedtime appropriate

In the series

Batcat.

3 books · open the series →

About the author & illustrator

Meggie Ramm.

MR

Meggie Ramm

Writer & illustrator · United States

Meggie Ramm is an American author-illustrator best known for the Batcat early-graphic-novel series (Batcat, Sink or Swim!, Cooking Contest!), gentle friendship comics about a small batcat (half bat, half cat) navigating identity, friendship and small adventures with their ghost best friend. Ramm's style is bright, character-driven and warmly cartoony, well-matched to the earliest end of graphic-novel reading (ages 5–8) in the Narwhal-and-Jelly / Pizza-and-Taco tradition. The Batcat books work as a strong gentle-identity-and-friendship shelf for emerging comic readers.

More from Meggie Ramm

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Buy or borrow

Pick up a copy.

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Last reviewed · April 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

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