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Stellaluna

Stellaluna

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20  ·  rating details  ·  39,989 ratings  ·  599 reviews
Stellaluna is the tender story of a lost young bat who finally finds her way safely home to her mother and friends. This award-winning book by Janell Cannon has sold over 500,000 copies and was on the bestseller list for more than two years.
Hardcover, 46 pages
Published April 30th 1993 by Harcourt Children's Books
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Adam Silvera
This is my first favorite book ever. Even today, the connection I share with this book is unmatched. My bother bought this for me as a kid and a Stellanuna plush doll came with it. Manly, right? Mom read me this story whenever I asked until I tragically lost my Stellaluna doll in the first grade.

My mother, being the most awesome of mothers, put up Missing Poster signs for this damn bat. No one ever called with information, no ransom notes were left next to my lunch box, and Stellaluna wasn't hid...more
Chandra
I think bats are very cute and misunderstood creatures, but I didn't like this quite as much as I was hoping/expecting. Stellaluna is a cute story that serves a dual purpose - educating children about fruit bats and providing a moral about embracing differences. The illustrations are very nice. My gripe is that the writing isn't all that absorbing and the moral is a little too obvious. I prefer more subtlety - even in children's stories.
Maryann
Summary:

Stellaluna is an award winning picture book that tells the story of a bat who loses her mother and grows up with a family of birds. Stellaluna begins to see how different she is from her new mother and brothers and sisters when they do weird things like eat worms, sleep right-side up, and sleep at night. Stellaluna finally meets her real mother and all the other bats and realizes why she felt like she didn’t belong with the bird family. She learns that she does in fact sleep upside down...more
Linda
Sweet story about a young bat who loses her mother after they are attacked by an owl and is subsequently adopted by a family of birds. It delightfully demonstrates how diverse creatures can coexist. The illustrations are lovely and luminescent.

From Kirkus:
"With a warm, nicely honed narration, Cannon strikes just the right balance between accurate portrayal of the bats and the fantasy that dramatizes their characteristics. Her illustrations, in luminous acrylics and color pencils, are exquisite....more
L-Angelica Herrera-Vest
I viewed a video produced by Scholastic, in 2004, based on the award winning picture book Stellaluna. This is a story about an orphaned fruit bat who desperately wants to fit in with a group of baby birds. She learns to appreciate her differences and that make her special. The video has additional segments related to the world of bats, a sing-along feature and arts/crafts activities. This video cannot replace the book. This might be more appropriate for pre-schoolers and kindergarteners.
Deedles
This book haunted me even in my dreams.

I was at Mimi's house and all of a sudden a tree grew from the middle of her floor and out the window. My dad and I climbed out on the limb that hung over a highway that looked eerily similar to that frogger game. All of a sudden Stellaluna showed up with a graduation cap on and one of those pretentious pointer things ivy-league professors supposedly use. Then we were lectured about pollution and how highways result in a numerous amount of roadkill.

I woke...more
Kaitlin Larson
This picture book has been one of my all time favorites since I was a child. I used to beg my mother to read this story to me. Stellaluna is a baby bat that gets separated from her mother Stellaluna falls into a birds nest where she pretends to be one of the birds. She learns to fly, eat, and basically be one of the birds. She comes across another bat that is hanging upside down and she thinks it is very strange until the bat points out that she too is a bat and not a bird. It is a classic story...more
Melanie Bates
Stellaluna

Summary: Stellalluna is a story about a baby fruit bat that loses her mother one day. In order to survive without her mother Stellauna decides to become accustomed to a birds way of living in the meantime. Eventually Stellauna is reunited with her mother. The illustrious throughout this book are great because it’s an interactive story.

Response: I enjoyed this book especially because it’s interactive. I think students would have a lot of fun going through the story while learning all ab...more
Julia
This book is a book I remember reading when I was younger but I couldn’t remember what it was about until I read it again now. This story is about a young fruit bat that gets separated from her mother by an owl attack. The young bat then grows up with a family of birds and learns to act how birds act until one day she flies away and finds her family again. However, the bat and the birds find how different they both are from one another but how similar they seem to be as well and how no matter w...more
Lauren Innes
Summary:

Stellaluna is a baby fruit bat. Every night, she accompanies her mother in search of the ripest fruit to eat by clenching onto her, since Stellaluna cannot yet fly. One such occasion, Stellaluna and her mother have an encounter with an owl, who manages to separate Stellaluna from her mother and tossing her into the air. Stellaluna falls down into the dark forest below. Luckily, she finds a branch to clutch onto. Stellaluna holds on tightly all night, wishing her mother would come find he...more
Abby
Stellaluna is an adorable story about a bat who grows up with a family of birds. Bats and birds behave very differently, so Stellaluna struggles to live like the birds live. Finally, she is reunited with other bats, and she is finally able to be who she was meant to be.
The book would be a great read-aloud, and could be used for a variety of educational purposes. For example, it could be read when students are learning about different classes of animals (it shows mammals vs birds). It's also a wo...more
Samantha Hagler
Stellaluna is a wonderful children's book! This story is about a bat named Stellaluna who loses her mom during an owl attack. She lands in a birds neat and begins to live as they do and act like a bird, not an owl. One day when the she was out flying she ran into other owls who made fun of her for acting like a bird. She discovers that one of these owls is her mother and she is soon reunited with her family and friends. She goes back to visit her bird friends and fly together happily.

This book...more
Sarah
I have read this book before several times, and I always liked it. But I couldn't remember why,so I had to take advantage!

Immediately, there is drama, where the mom bat confronts an owl and Stellaluna, the newborn baby bat, is dropped into the forest, away from her mother.

But no worry! She was saved by tree branches...but she was lost. Fortunately, a family of birds kept her company.

I enjoy the mothering from the bird to the bat. It touches your heart. And Stellaluna's hunger adds understanding...more
Rachelmontoya
Main Characters: Stellaluna, Flitter, Flap, Pip

Setting: Forest at night

POV: Narrator

Lexile: AD550L

Age group: primary K-2/ learning to read

Genre: picture book

Summary: This is an adorable story about a young fruit bat who makes the unlikeliest of friends. Stellaluna gets separated from his mother when an owl attacks them in the dark of night. Stellaluna is forced to survive on his own at night. He comes across a nest and meets baby birds, who notice Stellaluna is different, but they accept him an...more
Cody
Summary:
Stellaluna is a bat that gets lost from her mother when she is on her first, an owl attacks them and tries to catch her but she gets away. Stellaluna falls out of the sky into the trees, but luckily lands safely in a birds nest, and the mother bird treats her like her own under a few conditions. The illustrations, or in my case interactions, of Stellaluna tell the story themselves. They are some of the best illustrations for a children’s book.
Response:
Out of all of the books for this...more
Kara Buchholz
Summary
Stellaluna is a bat that falls from the sky when an owl attacks him and his mom. Stellaluna falls through the sky and lands with baby birds in their nest. Stellaluna is accepted into the family of baby birds and their mom. The issue though, is that Stellaluna in order to live with the birds has to adapt to their lifestyle; such as: not hanging upside when she sleeps, eating the food they are fed, and flying. Stellaluna decides in the end to teach the birds how to live a bat lifestyle when...more
Anna Ligtenberg
ISBN 059048379X - Almost the exact opposite story from The Ugly Duckling, Stellaluna should be in every child's library. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and look more like pictures than paintings or drawings.

Stellaluna is a baby bat who lives with her mother, who takes very good care of her. One night, they are attacked by an owl and Stellaluna falls from the sky to land in a nest of baby birds. The mother bird lets Stellaluna stay - as long as she'll abide by the house rules. That mea...more
Alexandra Welsh
I chose the fantasy/science fiction book, Stellaluna to review. It begins with a mother bat and her baby bat, Stellaluna, searching for food. Mother Bat gets attacked by an owl and Stellaluna falls from her mother's breast. Stellaluna falls onto a branch then falls into a birds nest. The birds embrace Stellaluna and she begins eating and acting like the birds. Stellaluna also teaches the birds how to hang upside down like bats, but the mother bird gets upset with Stellaluna and says that that is...more
Jennifer
“Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon was one of my favorite books growing up as a child. When I was little I remember being so sad that she lost her mother due to the owl attack but was extremely happy that the mother had returned. I love this book because it gives so many messages that can be learned from the story. One of them being, that someone can have the same commonalities as you but look completely different and someone can look just like you but act different. We shouldn’t judged people based...more
Brianna

I love this book!! It's no wonder it's won several awards; American Bookseller Book of the Year Award, Publisher's Weekly Children's Bestseller, Reading Rainbow's Feature and Review Book, California Young Reader Medal, Keystone to Reading Book Award, Southern California Council on Literature for Young People Award.

Plot Summary:

The adorably illustrated Stellaluna follows a baby bat through it's separation from it's family, to it's prodigal return. During it's separation, Stellaluna falls into a b...more
Ronyell
I first saw this book on an episode of “Reading Rainbow” (my favorite TV series when I was little!) and I instantly fell in love with this book! “Stellaluna” is a gorgeous picture book by Janell Cannon and it is about how a baby bat named Stellaluna learns how to live with the birds after she is separated by her mother during an owl attack. “Stellaluna” is truly one of the best books for bat lovers everywhere!

Once there lived a mother fruit bat that gave birth to a baby bat named Stellaluna and...more
Nissa
Oct 12, 2010 Nissa rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: ellis
I had a warm fuzzy feeling about stumbling onto this book at the library. The illustrations are precious, including tiny thumbnails place like gems atop each of the pages with text. You will fall in love with the expressions on Stellaluna's tiny, batty face. The story is easy for children to understand. The words Cannon used will expand vocabulary and stimulate the imagination--a lot of them are words my 2 1/2 year old hasn't yet encountered but I like that they challenge her. They are perfectly...more
Joey
Stellaluna is a sweet story about a young fruit bat who is raised by a family of birds after becoming separated from her mother. As Stellaluna struggles to fit in with the baby birds who eat bugs instead of fruit and who sleep in a nest instead of hanging upside down, she learns an important lesson in friendship and embracing differences.

Adorable illustrations and laugh out loud moments as Stellaluna learns to fly like a bird and clumsily tries to land on a branch. I love the part where she hang...more
Teeny
Summary: This particular book tells the story of a bat named Stellaluna, who is separated from her mother before she is old enough to fly. She is raised as a bird until she is reunited with her mother. Both Stellaluna and her many loved ones learn how different and alike animals are from one another, while still learning the essence of friendship. This book is an excellent read for any child with its humor, extensive detail, and educational content.

Written and Illustrated by Janell Cannon.

Audie...more
Elizabeth Sciarra
When I was little I remember my mom reading this to me all the time. It became my favorite book. Looking back on it now that I'm older I see why my mom actually read it to me. Also, I see the story that is behind it.

I really liked this book because it teaches children that they should keep their individuality. Just because someones family does something different, like how the birds sleep right side up and the bats sleep upside down, does not mean that you have to do it either. I also like how i...more
Ciera
A baby fruit bat, Stellaluna, and her mother are attacked by an owl, and Stellaluna is knocked out of her mother's hands. The baby bat then ends up in a bird's nest filled with three baby birds named Pip, Flitter and Flap. The mother bird will let Stellaluna be part of the family only if she eats bugs, does not hang by her feet and sleeps at night. When all the baby animals grow, they learn to fly. When Stellaluna and the birds are out playing, it gets dark and the birds go home without her beca...more
Lindsay
This is one of my favorite childrens' books. It is a unique text that sends the message that we should embrace our individual qualities while simultaneously providing interesting information on a non-fiction topic (bats). My students always seem drawn in by Stellaluna's sad, innocent, and confused eyes. Stellaluna can see that she is similar to the birds who've taken her in, but she can't seem to figure out why she doesn't quite fit. Lots of children and people in general can relate to feeling a...more
Robert
I purchased this early in my teaching career. It was all the rage at the time. It came with a stuffed Stellaluna. I am not certain we still have that.

This book is beautifully constructed. The text is neatly and elegantly presented. The images are similarly done.

Stellaluna is separated from his/her mother when young. He ends up in a bird nest. Mother bird cares for him, but only after making him promise not to upset things with teaching the young ones to hang upside down, etc. Stellaluna agreed...more
Melissa Mckee
This story is about two fruit bats, a mother and her baby. The baby bat, stellaluna, is separated from her mother and is forced to adapt to her surroundings with a bird family, until she is reunited with her mother. This book contains meticulous illustrations that encourage the reader to use their imagination in correlating the bats with people in their adventure. This book is joyful and invites the children to comprehend the book in a positive manner. The author refrains from using a condescend...more
Annie Zuckerman
Stellaluna is a cute book about a young bat that gets separated from her mother when an owl attempts to attack them. After getting separated, Stellaluna finds herself living with a family of birds. While living with them she has to eat as they do and act as they do. When it is time for them to learn to fly, Stellaluna continues to fly and eventually ends up reconnecting with her mother. Happy as can be, the mother shows Stellaluna what it is really like to be a bat and fly at night. Stellaluna i...more
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