Janell Cannon's "Stellaluna" was a sweet and simple tale about a bat that grows up with birds. The story is beautifully illustrated, but lacks wit and preaches good behavior while teaching little about bats. The story begins with Stellaluna and her mother being attacked by an owl. Stellaluna gets seperated from her mom and winds up in a birds nest with three baby birds. Stellaluna is fed insects (even though she is a fruit-eating pteropodid) which she dislikes but have no health consequnces for her. The story misleads kids to believe that a fruit-eating bat would be okay if fed insects. When Stellaluna teaches the baby birds to hang upside down she is scolded. This part did succeed in teaching kids that baby birds do not hang upside down like baby bats can, but it came off as threatening to Stellaluna. It carried the mantra that if a child does something different from what a parent desires they will be thrown out of the house. Finally it ended with Stellaluna saving the baby birds after showing them how well she could see in the dark. In actuality it is unlikely that a baby bat would have the strength to fly around with three baby birds in hand. Bats are light-weight beings which is essential for their flight abilities.
Though this book is beautifully illustrated it does not provide the best messages for impressionable young minds. I would love to see this author illustrate a more meaningful book about bats!
No comments:
Post a Comment