Blast From The Past - The Book Stellaluna
When I opened my eyes this morning, abruptly and with panic worrying that I had somehow slept through my alarm as I do all mornings, I didn't know what was lying ahead for me. I know I have a double root canal later, which I am dreading, but that's about it. I started aimlessly scrolling my Twitter TL to find...what's this? STELLA FUCKING LUNA?
GASP! SHRIEK! OUR QUEEN!!! I can't even tell you how many times I read this book. I LOVED Stellaluna. Here's a breakdown of the story, by me:
Stellaluna is a bat, obviously. She gets separated from her family at a young age (sounds like neglect to me, but whatever) and she finds a nest of birds that take her in so she doesn't die. The birds don't understand that she is a bat; she has wings, so she must be a bird? They get mad at her for doing bat things and they make her start doing bird things so she fits in. Even though she's a bat. As I'm typing this…I feel a metaphor that I never noticed before? Forcing people to be someone other than they really are, just to fit in? HMMMMM.
Stellaluna eventually gets back to her family, and they're like "Yea, girl! You're a bat, not a bird! Do bat stuff!" So, she does. She starts to feel bad about her bird family, and she introduces them to her bat fam. She was worried they wouldn't get along, but the mom bird/bat have mutual respect for each other, and they decide they can all be friends despite their differences. There's that metaphor again! Am I just a woke bitch now?
Anyway, the book itself was supposedly written because of the negative perception everyone has about bats. Bat's hired a PR person and that PR team hired Stellaluna. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. I was horrified of bats before this book. I have vivid memories in my backyard in NJ as a kid, looking at the sky around dusk (the time bats start coming out of the trees) and seeing bats starting to swoop around looking for dinner. Someone told me that bats like to nose dive into little girls' long hair and get caught in it, get scared, and rip you apart trying to get out. This "someone" was probably my mom, trying to get me inside before it was dark. It worked. Ruined bats for me. Until Stellaluna. Who would be afraid of this sweet baby face?
Look at that fucking face! I'm actually tearing up it's so cute. And look at that mean ass bird, telling her she's a freak and to stop hanging upside down when she sleeps. THE MAN always trying to keep us down, right Stella?
What a morning honestly. I officially remember my love for bats. The cover of that book just opened up a facet of my brain I thought I welded shut YEARS ago. Probably going to order this book on Amazon now, feels like something I need in my house. Subliminal messaging and all.
Here are some pics of a couple of people being Stellaluna for Halloween from Twitter that have me howling:
