Stellaluna (25th Anniversary Ed) Read online

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  and activities!

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  Access code: BAT

  With thanks to Dr. Nancy Simmons, Curator-in-Charge,

  Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History,

  for her expertise and assistance with the Bat Notes.

  Copyright © 1993, 2018 by Janell Cannon

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

  [email protected] or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,

  3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

  www.hmhco.com

  The illustrations in this book were done in Liquitex acrylics and Prismacolor pencils on bristol board.

  The display type was hand-lettered by Judythe Sieck.

  The text type was set in Guardi #55.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Cannon, Janell, 1957- author.

  Title: Stellaluna / Janell Cannon.

  Description: Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2018] |

  Originally published in 1993 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. | Summary:

  After she falls headfirst into a bird’s nest, a baby bat is raised like a

  bird until she is reunited with her mother.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016013602 | ISBN 9780544874350 (hardcover)

  Subjects: LCSH: Bats—Juvenile fiction. | Birds—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC:

  Bats—Fiction. | Birds—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ10.3.C1685 St 2017 | DDC [E]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013602

  eISBN 978-0-547-54530-1

  To

  Burton H. Cannon

  and

  Nancy A. Cannon

  With Love

  n a warm and sultry forest far, far away, there once

  lived a mother fruit bat and her new baby.

  Oh, how Mother Bat loved her soft tiny baby.

  “I’ll name you Stellaluna,” she crooned.

  Each night, Mother Bat would carry Stellaluna

  clutched to her breast as she flew out to search for food.

  One night, as Mother Bat followed the heavy scent of

  ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings the powerful

  bird swooped down upon the bats.

  Dodging and shrieking, Mother Bat tried to escape,

  but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna

  into the air. Her baby wings were as limp and useless as

  wet paper.

  Down, down she went, faster and faster, into the

  forest below.

  The dark leafy tangle of branches caught Stellaluna as

  she fell. One twig was small enough for Stellaluna’s tiny

  feet. Wrapping her wings about her, she clutched the thin

  branch, trembling with cold and fear.

  “Mother,” Stellaluna squeaked. “Where are you?”

  By daybreak, the baby bat could hold on no longer.

  Down, down again she dropped.

  Flump! Stellaluna landed headfirst in a soft downy

  nest, startling the three baby birds who lived there.

  Stellaluna quickly clambered from the nest and hung

  out of sight below it. She listened to the babble of the

  three birds.

  “What was that?” cried Flap.

  “I don’t know, but it’s hanging by its feet,” chirped

  Flitter.

  “Shhh! Here comes Mama,” hissed Pip.

  Many, many times that day, Mama Bird flew away,

  always returning with food for her babies.

  Stellaluna was terribly hungry—but not for the crawly

  things Mama Bird brought.

  Finally, though, the little bat could bear it no longer.

  She climbed into the nest, closed her eyes, and opened her

  mouth.

  Plop! In dropped a big green grasshopper!

  Stellaluna learned to be like the birds. She stayed

  awake all day and slept at night. She ate bugs, even though

  they tasted awful. Her bat ways were quickly disappearing.

  Except for one thing: Stellaluna still liked to sleep hanging

  by her feet.

  Once, when Mama was away, the curious baby birds

  decided to try it too. When Mama Bird came home, she

  saw eight tiny feet gripping the edge of the nest.

  “Eeeek!” she cried. “Get back up here this instant!

  You’re going to fall and break your necks!”

  The birds clambered back into the nest, but Mama

  Bird stopped Stellaluna. “You are teaching my children to

  do bad things. I will not let you back into this nest unless

  you promise to obey all the rules of this house.”

  Stellaluna promised. She ate bugs without making

  faces. She slept in the nest at night. And she didn’t hang

  by her feet. Stellaluna behaved as a good bird should.

  All the babies grew up quickly. Soon the nest became

  crowded.

  Mama Bird told them it was time to learn to fly. One

  by one, Pip, Flitter, Flap, and Stellaluna jumped from the

  nest.

  Their wings worked!

  I’m just like them, thought Stellaluna. I can fly too.

  Pip, Flitter, and Flap landed gracefully on a branch.

  Stellaluna tried to do the same.

  How embarrassing!

  I will fly all day, Stellaluna told herself. Then no one

  will see how clumsy I am.

  The next day, Pip, Flitter, Flap, and Stellaluna went

  flying far from home. They flew for hours, exercising their

  new wings.

  “The sun is setting,” warned Flitter.

  “We had better go home, or we will get lost in the

  dark,” said Flap.

  But Stellaluna had flown far ahead and was nowhere

  to be seen. The three anxious birds went home without her.

  All alone, Stellaluna flew and flew until her wings

  ached and she dropped into a tree. “I promised not to

  hang by my feet,” Stellaluna sighed. So she hung by her

  thumbs and soon fell asleep.

  She didn’t hear the soft sound of wings coming near.

  “Hey!” a loud voice said. “Why are you hanging

  upside down?”

  Stellaluna’s eyes opened wide. She saw a most peculiar

  face. “I’m not upside down. You are!” Stellaluna said.

  “Ah, but you’re a bat. Bats hang by their feet. You are

  hanging by your thumbs, so that makes you upside down!”

  the creature said. “I’m a bat. I am hanging by my feet.

  That makes me right-side up!”

  Stellaluna was confused. “Mama Bird told me I was

  upside down. She said I was wrong . . .”

  “Wrong for a bird, maybe, but not for a bat.”

  More bats gathered around to see the strange young

  bat who behaved like a bird. Stellaluna told them her story.

  “You ate b-bugs?” stuttered one.

  “You slept at night?” gasped another.

  “How very strange,” they all murmured.

  “Wait! Wait! Let me look at this child.” A bat pushed

  through the crowd. “An owl attacked you?” she asked.

  Sniffing Stellaluna’s fur, she whispered, “You are Stellaluna.

  You are my
baby.”

  “You escaped the owl?” cried Stellaluna. “You

  survived?”

  “Yes,” said Mother Bat as she wrapped her wings

  around Stellaluna. “Come with me, and I’ll show you

  where to find the most delicious fruit. You’ll never have

  to eat another bug as long as you live.”

  “But it’s nighttime,” Stellaluna squeaked. “We can’t

  fly in the dark, or we will crash into trees.”

  “We’re bats,” said Mother Bat. “We can see in

  darkness. Come with us.”

  Stellaluna was afraid, but she let go of the tree and

  dropped into the deep blue sky.

  Stellaluna could see. She felt as though rays of light

  shone from her eyes. She was able to see everything in

  her path.

  Soon the bats found a mango tree, and Stellaluna ate

  as much of the fruit as she could hold.

  “I’ll never eat another bug as long as I live,” cheered

  Stellaluna as she stuffed herself full. “I must tell Pip, Flitter,

  and Flap!”

  The next day Stellaluna went to visit the birds.

  “Come with me and meet my bat family,” said

  Stellaluna.

  “Okay, let’s go,” agreed Pip.

  “They hang by their feet and they fly at night and

  they eat the best food in the world,” Stellaluna explained

  to the birds on the way.

  As the birds flew among the bats, Flap said, “I feel

  upside down here.”

  So the birds hung by their feet.

  “Wait until dark,” Stellaluna said excitedly. “We will

  fly at night.”

  When night came, Stellaluna flew away. Pip, Flitter,

  and Flap leaped from the tree to follow her.

  “I can’t see a thing!” yelled Pip.

  “Neither can I,” howled Flitter.

  “Aaeee!” shrieked Flap.

  “They’re going to crash,” gasped Stellaluna. “I must

  rescue them!”

  Stellaluna swooped about, grabbing her friends in

  the air. She lifted them to a tree, and the birds grasped a

  branch. Stellaluna hung from the limb above them.

  “We’re safe,” said Stellaluna. Then she sighed. “I wish

  you could see in the dark too.”

  “We wish you could land on your feet,” Flitter replied.

  Pip and Flap nodded.

  They perched in silence for a long time.

  “How can we be so different and feel so much alike?”

  mused Flitter.

  “And how can we feel so different and be so much

  alike?” wondered Pip.

  “I think this is quite a mystery,” Flap chirped.

  “I agree,” said Stellaluna. “But we’re friends.

  And that’s a fact.”

  BAT NOTES

  Of the nearly 5,500 species of mammals on Earth, almost one-quarter

  (more than 1,370 species) are bats, the only mammals capable of

  powered flight.

  The scientific name for bats is Chiroptera, “hand-wing,” because

  the skeleton that supports the wing is composed of the animal’s hand

  and elongated finger bones.

  Most bats use echolocation in order

  to navigate in flight, avoid obstacles, and

  detect and track prey. Echolocation is a

  form of biological sonar—using

  sound to sense the world around

  us. There are over 1,100

  species of echolocating

  bats, and they live in

  every climate around

  the world except

  the polar zones.

  Many eat insects, while others feed on fish, amphibians, reptiles, and

  even other mammals. Still other echolocating bats feed on fruit or the

  nectar and pollen of flowers. Some of the most famous are vampire

  bats, of which there are only three species. Vampire bats can be found

  from Mexico to Argentina. They prey primarily on domestic cattle

  and native mammals and birds, from

  which they obtain blood meals

  through tiny bites. Contrary

  to myth, no bats are blind.

  However, not all bats

  echolocate. Most Old World fruit

  bats, like Stellaluna, instead use

  their keen vision and sense of smell

  to orient themselves and find their food.

  There are about 200 species of Old World

  fruit bats. The smallest have a wingspan of

  11 inches. The largest have a wingspan of nearly 6 feet. Old World

  fruit bats generally have long muzzles, large eyes, pointy ears, and

  furry bodies, which is why they are often called flying foxes. They

  live in tropical and subtropical climates that provide year-round

  supplies of their favorite fruits, flowers, and nectar. Some fruit bats,

  as they forage for nectar, pollinate many types of night-blooming

  trees and plants. Others eat whole fruits, seeds and all, and

  distribute the seeds over the forest floor in their droppings. In these

  ways, bats are very important to the regeneration of tropical forests.

  More Books by

  JANELL CANNON

  “Glorious.”

  —Publishers Weekly, starred review

  “Inspiring.”

  —Booklist, starred review

  “Hilarious and endearing.”

  —School Library Journal

  Don’t miss the downloadable craft and activity kit!

  www.hmhbooks.com/freedownloads

  Access code: BAT

  A Note from Janell Cannon

  People often ask me why I wrote Stellaluna. There are too many

  reasons to fit in this note, but my greatest hope was to create

  a picture book that was universal. I wanted the story to speak

  to people of any age, gender, race, or culture. I also hoped to

  create a book that would mirror each person’s own experience

  of feeling like a bat in a bird’s world—and to realize that family

  and friendship can be found in unexpected ways.

  Years later, Stellaluna has taken on a life of its own and

  has been retold in recordings, stage productions, and many

  translations. Each translation has reached farther out into

  the world, and people in such places as Tibet, Vietnam, and

  Kurdistan can share Stellaluna’s tale in their own language.

  I now often meet adults who grew up reading the book, and

  have even met children who were named after Stellaluna.

  It has been amazing to see this story travel far and wide,

  and I feel extraordinarily grateful to the teachers, librarians,

  booksellers, and readers who continue to carry Stellaluna to

  the next generations.

  Praise for Stellaluna

  “Stellaluna will win many hearts.” —School Library Journal

  “A splendid debut.” —Kirkus Reviews

  A New York Times Bestseller

  A Publishers Weekly Bestseller

  A Los Angeles Times Bestseller

  An American Booksellers Book of the Year

  A Reading Rainbow Book

  A Parents Magazine 50 Best Children’s Books selection

  A New York Times Book Review’s 50 Years of Children’s Books selection

 

 

  Janell Cannon, Stellaluna (25th Anniversary Ed)

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