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.

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

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