Amazon.com Review
The charming baby fruit bat in Janell Cannon's heartwarming, award- winning Stellaluna is now a finger puppet--excellent for shadow play, but also for highly effective flapping action! Fold her cloth wings around her brown felt body and hang her upside down for a brief bat snooze, if you like, or use her to reenact crucial scenes in the book. Perched on the finger of reader or listener, this endearing 4-inch-tall puppet with a 9-inch wingspan will inspire flights of fancy as Stellaluna's award-winning story unfolds. Each bat puppet comes in a gift package with the hardcover edition of Stellaluna. A wonderful introduction to Stellaluna, and a must for bat lovers. (Ages 4 and older)

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 105 reviews)

Stupendous Art, Sweet Story

When Janell Cannon first began writing children's books, her love for animals ruled her subject matter and the author/artist focused her stories on animals thought unpopular and unattractive by the general populace. Seeking to dispel the myths about these particular creatures, Cannon fashioned endearing stories about them in an effort to bolster their overall importance in the environment. Evenly pairing facts with her fiction as well as gorgeous depictions of her book's organism of interest, she was destined to become popular.

Cannon has long since retired from a life of relative obscurity in the public library system, the publication of "Stellaluna" in 1993 paving the road to her success as a popular children's author. Now available in a beautiful oversized hardback edition (which I HIGHLY recommend for the experience of the illustrations alone), the resplendent illustrations of "Stellaluna" are in all their glory, Cannon's seamless blending of soft and dreamy acrylic backdrops with delicately penciled wildlife and vegetation a real treat for the eyes.

Cannon's story centers around the abstruse fruit bat, otherwise known as "Megachiroptera". A baby fruit bat by the name of Stellaluna is separated from her mother when they are attacked by an owl whilst foraging for food. The hapless Stellaluna ends up tumbling into a bird's nest and is begrudgingly adopted by the mother bird, conforming to the diet of insects she provides and her strict rule to sleep right-side-up within the nest. When the day comes for Stellaluna and the young birds to take flight, the little bat haphazardly runs into a group of fruit bats and learns who she really is. She is eventually reunited with her mother and teaches her adoptive bird siblings a thing or two about the pleasures of being a creature of the night.

Per the usual, Cannon includes some generalized facts about bats and some specific info on her star character. Proving the old adage of "you learn something new every day", I found that I was mistaken in believing that all bats had poor eyesight and got around by echolocation - fruit bats are among the numerous species of bat that actually see quite well in low light. An important part of keeping the delicate balance to the ecosystem, the vegetation of rainforests is largely dependent on the fruit bat population for propagation of several species of plants through their consumption of native fruit trees (e.g. mangoes).

Bottom line: If you appreciate beautiful artwork as well as a charming story, "Stellaluna" will be a pleasure to read and a welcome addition to your child's library.
December 01, 2008

A Must for

Review by Sherry North, Author, Because You Are My Baby

This book is wonderful on so many levels:
-The story is engaging and suspenseful enough to hold young children's interest.
-The illustrations are stunning.
-The messages are positive without being preachy - most importantly, that it's OK for children to befriend those who are different.
-Interesting bat facts at the end are perfect for kids who want to know more.

One other reviewer commented that this book is not suitable for adopted children, because the mother bird threatens to kick Stellaluna out of the nest for breaking the rules. I have an adopted child as well, and think the book is just fine. In fact, it gives me an opportunity to discuss with my children that they should follow rules, but will never be "kicked out" for their transgressions.

September 30, 2008

yikes!

wow - I just read this book to my son (almost four and adopted) and was so upset at myself that I didn't read it first! I should know this by now! When we got to the page where the mother bird says, "I will not let you back in to this next unless you promise to obey all the rules," my son said, "would you ever say that to me?" UGH! Of course I gave him a hundred kisses and reassured him that I would NEVER say that to him. It won't say in our house and I can't even loan it to others. So, to the recyling bin it goes. Bummer.
September 29, 2008

Deserves to be a children's classic

It took my years to get around to reading this charming little book. It's a tender story about a bat that makes friends with a family of birds, in spite of so many differences. The illustrations are bright and gorgeous.
September 27, 2008

A Unique, Beautiful Book

Well, I certainly don't know how it is possible that I have not read STELLALUNA, by Janell Cannon, until now. I recently purchased this very popular children's book for my three year old daughter, on the strong recommendation of a friend. STELLALUNA is a lovely, touching story, and both my daughter and I are enjoying it very much.

A young fruit bat named Stellaluna is separated from her mother and winds up in a nest of baby birds. The mother bird, finding another baby in her nest, feeds and raises Stellaluna along side her own babies, Flitter, Flap, and Pip. But mother bird doesn't know anything about being a bat, only a bird, so she teaches Stellaluna to be the best bird a bat can be. Stellaluna learns to eat bugs, sleep right side up, and fly during the day. She is not a graceful bird, and she doesn't like the bugs, but Stellaluna tries very hard to be like her nest mates. In the end, Stellaluna is reunited with her family and learns what it means to be a beautiful and graceful bat. But she remembers her bird family, and knows that she, Flitter, Flap, and Pip will always be friends.

This sweet little book is a new take on the story of the ugly duckling. While Stellaluna was a clumsy bird, she certainly is a graceful bat. Likewise, her bird friends can't do a lot of bat things, but they are perfect at being beautiful birds. STELLALUNA is a very simple story that teaches many great lessons. Be kind to others. Be yourself. Being different doesn't mean you can't be friends.

STELLALUNA's illustrations are quite lovely...they simply glow. The soft muted colors, the rich texture, and intricate details bring this story to life. The expressions on the faces of the bats and birds make it easy for young children to relate to these characters. "Look, Mommy," said my wee one, "look how happy Stellaluna is! She found her mommy!"

STELLALUNA is a charming tale that makes these little fruit bats seem cute and sweet, and a lot less icky. With 2 pages of bat notes at the end, this book tries to teach children (and adults!) the truth about bats and to dispel some of the negative feelings that have built up around them. Highly recommended.

September 11, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Verdi
by Janell Cannon

Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
by Ray Cruz

Pinduli (ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Awards)
by Janell Cannon

Crickwing
by Janell Cannon