Janell Cannon: Stellaluna's 25th Anniversary

Janell Cannon

Janell Cannon's picture books have won many awards and are beloved around the world. She is the author and illustrator of Verdi, Trupp, Little Yau, Crickwing, Pinduli and the long-time bestselling classic Stellaluna. Born and raised in Minnesota, Cannon now lives in Southern California.

The 25th anniversary edition of Stellaluna has a special author's note, updated bat notes in the back matter and downloadable coloring sheets and activities. New enhancing features in this edition include a jacket with deluxe effects, the addition of color to the ink drawings, a conversion of the single page illustrations into full-bleed designs and new reproductions of the art that reveal its true, brilliant color.

Stellaluna was your first picture book. How does it feel to see it turn 25?

Much like just about everything in my life at present. Time is flying by so fast, I feel I can't keep up. I have an old windup clock in the kitchen that, for every rewind, runs for one week. Often, I stop and notice that the clock has stopped, and even though I feel I had just wound it up yesterday, a whole week managed to slip by. Infants' eyes whose first days I gazed into now sport crow's feet, and the children who grew up reading Stellaluna are now having children of their own. I am beginning to feel how it must feel to be a tree watching the blur of life around it.

That said, I am amazed and delighted that Stellaluna has remained a part of the reading community for a quarter century!

How has Stellaluna's story aged? What do you want young readers to take from their reading of it?

One of the things I most hoped to achieve was a universal quality to the story--one which feels familiar to any who read it--with a timeless question asked at the end that points toward an overall spirit of tolerance. Also, unlike the classic Ugly Duckling tale where the gosling was harassed by its peers, Stellaluna's discomfort with herself comes mostly from within, even though the bird family learns to accept her. I hope that kids who read the story gradually see that self-image can color how we think we are perceived by others, sometimes in a negative way, and to develop a clear sense of what's coming from inside us as well as outside us as we navigate life.

Because the book has managed to remain on the shelves of libraries, bookstores and peoples' homes for a full generation, its characters, events and questions apparently continue to ring true.

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Click to hear from the creators of three more of HMH's anniversary editions: Kristin Cashore, Lois Lowry and Nathan Hale.

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