Welcome to detention hall!

You remember: sitting still, no talking…the last place you want to be during the last week of school. Or is it? Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler have created a tuneful and innovative retelling of Aesop’s Fables, where children can escape the less-than-perfect present through their imaginations influencing the world around them. Just when these six students think their afternoon is ruined, a new teacher opens a book and shows them the strength of their own minds. We are all grateful for these people in our lives, the ones that spark creative thinking and illuminate the potential within us. In this story, I am grateful for the children who say,“yes” to their potential and cause actual change. When is a chair not a chair? When it is instead a throne or lion’s den, or…or…? In Shell ’s library, whenever young people decide to participate in a story, the world around them acquiesces, completing what their mind’s eye sees: jungle palm trees, winter snowstorms, and ultimately, their own ingenuity and self-worth. The next time one of our younger friends tells us they are flying to the moon, hopefully we’ll recall dear Ms. Sopperstein and say, “Here’s your helmet, bring me back a star.”