Themes in Stellaluna include friendship, overlooking differences to find common ground, and the universality of feeling like a bat in a bird's world.

Author Janell Cannon grew up in rural Minnesota; her parents shared their enjoyment of nature with her and her siblings.

[2] Later, when working at a library in California, Cannon noted that only three books in the children's section featured bats, of which two were eventually removed.

Specifically, she referred to Tuttle's 1986 National Geographic article, "Gentle Flyers of the African Night", which was about epauletted fruit bats.

[3][4] Cannon's characters were Gambian epauletted fruit bats, which she chose for their dog-like qualities and friendly-looking features.

[5] Cannon signed with a literary agent, Sandra Dijkstra, who placed Stellaluna with the now-defunct publishing company Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ) in 1993.

The mother bird will let Stellaluna be part of the family only if she eats bugs and worms, does not hang by her feet and sleeps at night.

[6] In the 1996 publication Children's Literature, the authors state that Cannon "put so much character in Stellaluna's face and body that the bat comes alive for the reader".

They said that "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".

[10] The illustrations were also praised for their accurate portrayal of bats, with one educator stating it is "one of the most beautiful science-based picture books I have come across".

The mother bird treated Stellaluna as a bad child, identifying her as a corrupting influence on her biological offspring and discouraging her from enacting instinctive behaviors, such as sleeping during the day and roosting upside down.

[19] In October 1994, Stellaluna was featured on the PBS children's show Reading Rainbow, where it was narrated by actress Anne Jackson.

Lucy, the daughter of a man with an intellectual disability, reads part of the book out loud, intentionally stumbling over the word "different".

1961), who was then a doctoral student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, to compose a work for their children's Key Concert Series.

As this was a children's concert, Hernández decided to base his musical work on the book Stella Luna by Janelle Canon.

[31] In 2002, a 41-minute direct-to-video animated musical featurette very loosely based on Stellaluna was released by MGM Home Entertainment.

[36] In 2005, Emerald City Theatre Company debuted the musical Stellaluna and Other Tales by Alyn Cardarelli and Steve Goers.

In addition to the bat Stellaluna, the musical contains the main characters from other works by Cannon: Verdi, about a python, and Pinduli, about a hyaena.

Author Janell Cannon enjoyed the puppet show so much, she brought it to her hometown to celebrate the anniversary of Stellaluna's publishing.