Have you ever read any books by the famous children’s book author and illustrator Arnold Nobel? His stories typically overflow with dialogue, so they’re perfect for adapting to Readers Theater.



Did you know that Lobel’s book Fables won the 1981 Caldecott Medal and his book Frog and Toad are Friends was named a Caldecott Honor Book? [NOTE: The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the “most distinguished picture book” for children.]



Choosing Caldecott Medal winners and Honor Books MAY be a short cut to teaching our students how to write their own Readers Theater scripts based on children’s books. Your local library or used book store may have Lobel’s Fables book–filled with 20 one-page original fables similar to “Aesop’s Fables” The full-page illustrations help make these fables fun.



Let’s look at Lobel’s Caldecott winner, Fables. Similar to “Aesop’s Fables,” Lobel’s book, Fables, includes talking animal characters: crocodile, ducks, fox, lion, beetle, lobster, frogs, crab, hen, baboon, bear, crow, cat, ostrich, camel, dog, rhinoceros, kangaroo, pig, elephant, pelican, crane, rooster, hippopotamus, and a mouse. “(Of course Lobel includes a mouse in his Fables book because he seems to like mouse characters. Mouse Tales is another fun book filled with  entertaining stories by Lobel.) Each fable usually has one or two talking animals.

Steps to Writing Readers Theater From Literature: Arnold Lobel's Fables



So, like adapting any other piece of children’s literature to Readers Theater, all of the dialogue in Fables will go to the speaking characters.  All of the narration goes to the narrators (1-4). I suggest that you teach your students to assign the narration to only 1-2 narrators in these stories since each fable is short–only one page long.



Since each fable is only one page long and you have 20 to choose from, you have choices:



A. Assign one fable to adapt to a Readers Theater script to a single student. (Partners can help perform the scripts.)

B. Assign one fable to adapt to a Readers Theater script to pairs or trios of students. They can perform their script as a partner play.



Your students may want to volunteer to adapt a fable to Readers Theater based on the animal character or characters in the script. Or, they could volunteer based on the title of the fable listed on his contents page. They don’t need to read the entire fable ahead of time, but be aware of any vocabulary challenges.

I have adapted part of Lobel's fable “The Baboon’s Umbrella” on page 12 as an example of how to adapt children's literature to Readers Theater. Have your students read the title and beginning of the fable, something like this…



Narrator 1: The Baboon’s Umbrella.

Narrator 2: By Arnold Nobel.



Narrator 1: The Baboon was taking his daily walk in the jungle.

Narrator 2: He met his friend, the Gibbon, on the path and the Gibbon said…



Gibbon: My good friend, how strange to find you holding an open umbrella over your head on such a sunshiny day as this.



Baboon: Yes, I am most annoyed. I cannot close this disagreeable umbrella.



The story continues and ends with a lesson that could be spoken by the narrators…




Narrator 1: Advice from friends is like the weather



Narrator 2: Some of it is good; some of it is bad.



Narrators 1 & 2: The End



When I was first introduced to Readers Theater while working on my master’s degree and being a classroom teacher it was suggested to assign phrases like “he said” or “she said” to the narrators. However, if it’s clear who is speaking, having the narrators interrupting a conversation with “he said” or “she said” takes away from the story.  So, that idea is no longer as popular.



If you have Lobel’s book Fables, you’ll notice that I tweaked a sentence.

Lobel wrote, “'My good friend,' said the Gibbon…”

This is the first time the Gibbon speaks, so in a Readers Theater script the audience may not recognize who this character is–unless the narrators give a hint or all of the characters are introduced at the beginning of the performance.  I slightly adapted the text to have the narrator introduce the Gibbon (in bold type below)…



Narrator 2: He met his friend, the Gibbon, on the path and the Gibbon said…

Gibbon: My good friend…



You’ll notice a moral in Lobel’s Caldecott Award-wiinning book, Fables, at the end of each story. “Aesop’s Fables” does the same to help teach a character-building lessons. That moral may be read by the narrators or if it’s short it may be spoken as a chorus of all of the readers.



Since Readers Theater is very flexible, there are no stringent rules. Basically, narration goes to the narrators and dialogue goes to the characters. Arnold Lobel’s book provides an easy source of stories for you to share with your students as you teach them to write their own scripts.

*** WARNING: Children’s books are copyrighted. I am not an attorney; however, it’s my understanding that there could be legal ramifications in trying to SELL Readers Theater scripts directly taken from copyrighted material. Is it a creative form of plagiarism or is it considered a new adaptation? Of course, you are free to adapt children’s literature to Readers Theater scripts for your own classroom or family use. And, it’s probably fine to share scripts for free sometimes.



We all want to build lifelong skills in our students. Trustworthy Readers Theater scripts can help build positive character qualities and lifelong skills. If you’re interested in more fables we have a growing collection in our Script Buffet for paying members.

Our original collection of 9 "Aesop’s Fables Collection” is a popular product in our TPT Store. It includes our exclusive “Flexi-Curric” (TM) designed to simplify your options in teaching a unit study on “Aesop’s Fables.” Some of the questions, curriculum links, and extension activities could also apply to Lobel’s book, Fables. Or, use the Caldecott Award-winner, Fables, as an “Aesop’s Fables” follow-up activity to easily teach YOUR students how to write Readers Theater scripts.



Once your students have written their own Readers Theater scripts, make sure they have an opportunity to perform them, confidently projecting their voices so an imaginary grandma could hear them if she was in the back of the room. Performances increase the motivation to practice rereading which builds confidence and fluency. Who doesn’t like to hear applause for their performance?