Stellaluna Board Book

by Janell Cannon

Overview

When young fruit bat Stellaluna is separated from her mother, she’s adopted by a family of birds with very different habits in this award-winning and bestselling picture book classic.

Knocked from her mother’s safe embrace by an attacking owl, Stellaluna lands headfirst in a bird’s nest. This adorable baby fruit bat’s world is literally turned upside down when she is adopted by the occupants of the nest and adapts to their peculiar bird habits. Two pages of notes at the end of the story provide factual information about bats. “Delightful and informative but never didactic; a splendid debut.” —Kirkus Reviews
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152062873
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/01/2007
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	42
Sales rank:	17,659
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Janell Cannon's picture books have won many awards and are beloved around the world. She is the author and illustrator of Verdi, Crickwing, Pinduli, and the long-time bestselling classic Stellaluna. Born and raised in Minnesota, Ms. Cannon now lives in Southern California.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[set star]"Delightful and informative but never didactic."—Kirkus Reviews 

Editorial Reviews

[set star]"Delightful and informative but never didactic."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
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From the Publisher

Stellaluna, a little brown bat, is accidentally dropped by her mother. The helpless baby falls smack into a nest of bird fledglings, and is immediately accepted as one of the family. Stellaluna tries to fit in, but keeps acting unbirdlike; hanging upside down and wanting to fly at night. By chance Stellaluna is reunited with her mother and finally learns to be proper bat. Cannon's breathtaking illustrations make this a gift-giving favorite.

Barnes & Noble Staff

With Janell Cannon's popular picture book as its main feature, this recording includes other stories on bats as wellHattie, the Backstage Bat by Don Freeman and narrator David Holt's version of Why the Bats Fly at Night. There's also a short, factual account of bats, followed by "Stellaluna's Theme," a brief piece of music that sounds like a folk lullaby. To hear Stellaluna read aloud is to realize just how much the illustrations contribute to its appeal in book form; it simply doesn't do well orally, despite David Holt's enthusiastic efforts. The other selections, accompanied by dim, disjointed strains of music, don't fare much betterespecially the part about "amazing bat facts" in which children are urged to set up their own bat houses in order to reduce the numbers of annoying insects in the air. "Wouldn't it be nice to have Stellaluna in your backyard?," Holt asks earnestly. Alas, his facts are wrong. Stellaluna doesn't eat insects; as a fruit bat she eats fruit. Those wishing to educate children about bats are advised to skip this effort in favor of the growing numbers of fine books on the subject.-Carol Katz, Harrison Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

After Stellaluna and her mother are attacked by an owl, the tiny fruit bat lands headfirst in a bird's nest. The mother bird allows Stellaluna to stay, as long as Stellaluna doesn't teach the bird babies bad tricks--like hanging upside down from the nest to sleep. Stellaluna wants to be as graceful as the baby birds, but she's graceful only when she's flying. A bat discovers Stellaluna, who's been separated from the birds, sleeping wrong end up. It calls other bats to see this strange little creature, and a very happy Stellaluna is reunited with her mother to learn proper bat behavior. When the birds visit Stellaluna's bat family, the little bat discovers that baby birds are as clumsy at being bats as Stellaluna was at trying to be a bird. Cannon's delightful story is full of gentle humor, and even young children will understand the little bat's need to fit in. Cannon provides good information about bats in the story, amplifying it in two pages of notes at the end of the book. Her full-page colored-pencil-and-acrylic paintings fairly glow: Stellaluna's depiction reflects the starlight and moonlight of the bat's name, and the pictures of the creature hauling herself onto a limb, hanging by her thumbs, and "joy-flying" are truly amusing. The facing pages of text include small, charming ink sketches that show what happens as Stellaluna's mother searches for her baby.

Chris Sherman