Books

Janell Cannon's Books === || || || || ||  || ===

Cannon, Janell. __Stellaluna__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 1993.
"Attacked by an owl, Stellaluna (a fruit bat) is separated from her mother and taken in by a bird and her nestlings. Dutifully, she tries to accommodate--she eats insects, hangs head up, and sleeps at night, as Mama Bird says she must--but once Stellaluna learns to fly, it's a huge relief when her own mother finds her and explains that the behavior that comes naturally is appropriate to her species. With a warm, nicely honed narration, Cannon strikes just the right balance between accurate portrayal of the bats and the fantasy that dramatizes their characteristics. Her illustrations, in luminous acrylics and color pencils, are exquisite. The appealingly furry, wide-eyed, fawn-colored bats have both scientific precision and real character; they're displayed against intense skies or the soft browns and greens of the woodland in spare, beautifully constructed (occasionally even humorous) compositions. Delightful and informative but never didactic: a splendid debut." (Kirkus Review, 1993)

Cannon, Janell. __Verdi__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 1997.
"Cannon (**Stellaluna**) is on a roll, her gift for creating memorable characters and scenes on glorious display in this tale of a feisty python hatchling. Vowing never to turn "lazy, boring, or green" like the older pythons, Verdi zips through the jungle, launching himself from tree branches in an attempt to outpace the inevitable and keep his bright yellow skin and sporty stripes. His elders fear Verdi's recklessness will be his undoing ("At this rate, he'll be lucky to make it to his first molt," bemoans one) and they watch his antics with alarm--and with a drop of nostalgia for their own glory days." (Publishers Weekly, February 17, 1997)

Cannon, Janell. __Trupp__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 1998.
"Carefully crafted prose and stunning art shape a story that delicately spans the fictional and real, at the same time delivering a message worthy of reflection. Curious about what lies beyond his Family Cave, **Trupp**, a cat-like creature with snow-white fur and ice-blue eyes, walks for days until he approaches "people-dwellings." The peace-loving Fuzzhead borrows clothing from a scarecrow so humans won't notice his odd appearance and, accompanied by a raven, heads for a city" (Publisher's Weekly, February 20, 1995)

Cannon, Janell. __Little Yau__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 2002
"Cannon (**Stellaluna**) returns to the land of the Fuzzheads for this tale with an ecological message. Little Yau longs to become sufficiently accomplished at mixing plants into healing medicines that the Wise Ones, the eldest Fuzzheads, will invite her to the mountains to teach her "the great secrets." After bungling her exam in the medicine cave, Yau goes in search of her best friend, Trupp, who encountered the human world in the inaugural volume about the Fuzzheads and has been away a longtime. She finds him unconscious, and summons the Wise Ones." (Publishers Weekly, July 29, 2002)

Cannon, Janell. __Pinduli__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 2004.
"As in her most popular picture book, Stellaluna, Cannon here demonstrates her knack for illustrations that are both expressive and faithful to nature. Her title character is a young female hyena whose identifying characteristics--the large ears, the bristly striped fur--bring on rude comments from other animals. Cannon's luminescent acrylic and pencil art showcases the shimmering sky and parched golden terrain of the East African savanna and the diversity of its inhabitants." (Heppermann,The Horn Book Magazine September 01, 2004)

Cannon, Janell. __Crickwing__. San Diego, California: Harcourt Children's Books, 2005.
"Cannon introduces Crickwing, a cockroach with a wounded wing. This basically sweet-natured creature becomes a bit of a bully when he discovers how easy it is to play tricks on a colony of worker ants. When faced with outside danger, however, he uses his creative talents to help his industrious friends. The most striking aspect of the book is the acrylic and Prismacolor-pencil artwork." (Buckley, School Library Journal, November 01, 2000)