Stellaluna Board book – Picture Book, August 1, 2007

I bought my first copy of Stellaluna before my daughter was born and it became one of our all-time favorite books to read together. (Verdi was probably a tie.) When I got a shower invitation from my niece lately asking people to bring a book instead of a card along with their gift, I grabbed three of our old childhood standbys: Stellaluna 25th Anniversary Edition, Verdi, and The Runaway Bunny: A 75th Anniversary Retrospective. It’s so hard to choose so few out of so many of our favorite books, but she may be inundated with more books as her son gets older. ;) I also ordered a new favorite, A Boy and a House, but I’m not sure it will get here in time for her shower.Stellaluna is a baby fruit bat whose mother drops her accidentally during an owl attack. Stellaluna manages to fly away uninjured and finds herself adopted by a family of birds. Being a flying creature that hangs upside down to sleep and doesn’t like bugs is hard when you’re in a family of birds who prefer to fly during the day, sleep upright in their nest, and who turn down their noses at fruit. But they still all love one another, and the baby birds actually try to act a bit more bat-like with some rather painful results. One of the most adorable scenes is Stellaluna trying to learn to alight on a branch like a bird lands, rather than a bat. But every picture is adorable right down to everyone’s facial expressions.The vibrant pictures by Janell Cannon are whimsical, beautifully colored, and simply mesmerizing, making the text almost superfluous.(But not quite.) Stellaluna is a story of what it means to be family, what it means to feel different and like an outsider, and what it means to accept and love people even when they act in a manner that seems strange to you. You don’t have to understand someone to know that they are a person worthy of your love. Lots of good conversations will start with reading this book, not to mention initiate countless hours poring over the intricate and delicately colored illustrations.This 25th anniversary edition of Stellaluna includes colored versions of the small previously black and whtie line-art drawings on the text pages and a code to download craft and activity kits. There are also two pages about bats at the back of the book, which were updated for this edition.Highly recommended for anyone who loves to share beautiful picture books, heartwarming stories, and inspiration to understand that being different isn’t a bad thing. Simply one of the best picture books for children.

Every new baby gets a copy of this wonderful story! It's part of my list of Classics that every child should have. It's a delightful story that adults will enjoy also. Great pictures! A modern classic

Bought the book and matching bat stuffie for my kids oh so long ago. Happy to find the tale on Kindle so I can share with my grandkids. Still a loving story of friendship and differences

This was my all time favorite book as a little girl. Mom got it for me for my birthday and even in my 20's I will always adore this book. I think she unintentionally made a family heirloom 😆😆 gonna read it to my kids in the future

I have loved this book for years! I try to always include this book in my baby shower gifts. My grandchildren love the story.

This is the 25th anniversary of Stellaluna which says a lot about the longevity of the story. I first bought this for my children when they were elementary age and have bought it several times since, most recently for the 3 year old daughter of a friend.Stellaluna is a young bat who is separated from her mother on her first flight. She survives by falling in a birds nest and being fed by the bird mother. Of course, eventually she is reunited with her mother, but along the way learns that she is different and that one can make friends with those who are different and even live in their world, but that family is important.The pictures both colored pages and line drawings in between are delightful as one can easily tell by the cover and children find them irresistible. Three and four year olds will likely be most interested in the pictures and enjoy the book as a bedtime story. Older children will enjoy reading the story for themselves and talking about it with parents or grandparents.

This is a great book but hard to find. Was happy to buy multiple copies for baby gifts. Recipients liked the book.

This is the third book I was talking about if you’ve looked back in my other reviews the three books you need to get your toddlers are Stella Luna rainbow fish and Bertie they are such great fun for Reads and also they have a message