The CSI CFA will host Stellaluna, the story of a baby bat who begins to question her true identity.

The team that produced the hit, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Kids Entertainment, is back with a new theatrical production of the best-selling book Stellaluna on Sunday, February 8, 2009 at the Center for the Arts (CFA) Williamson Theatre at 3:00pm. Tickets are $10, $12, and $15 and can be purchased in person, by phone, by mail, and online through the CFA Box Office, 2800 Victory Boulevard, 1P-113, Staten Island. Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am to 4pm; Saturday, noon to 3pm; 718.982.ARTS (2787), www.cfasshows.com. Major funding for this CFA Kids event was provided by New York State Senator Andrew J. Lanza.

When baby bat Stellluna finds herself in the care of a momma bird she begins to question her true identity in this new, family musical about the journey of finding who you really are.

Stellaluna’s life is right on schedule until an owl attacks her mother one night, knocking her out of her mother’s loving grasp. The tiny bat is lucky enough to land in a nest of baby birds, but she begins to find out her whole world is about to change. When the momma bird accepts Stellaluna into her nest there is one condition—she must act like a bird. Although Stellaluna acts like a good bird, she knows deep in her heart that she’s different from the rest of her family. Come and take a trip with Stellaluna as she finds her true self. Watch as four actors bring this charming tale to life with large puppets, live music, and enchanting scenery. This is a tale for anyone who has ever been asked to be someone they’re not, and a must-see for children ages 4 through 10.

Author Janell Cannon is a self-taught artist and writer who has admired misunderstood creatures such as snakes, spiders, Komodo dragons and especially bats. She created Stellaluna in hopes that she would transform young people’s fear of bats into informed affections. “Fruit bats don’t drink blood and won’t get caught in your hair. I hope to show them in a positive light, so that they might be given more respect,” she says. The artist and writer also wanted to touch readers with a story about a friendship shared by two different kinds of creatures, a bat and three baby birds. Cannon likens the book to “a mirror, so that anyone who looks into it will see their own story their own way.” She never suspected that her book would become a runaway bestseller.

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Major funding for this CFA Kids event was provided by New York State Senator Andrew J. Lanza. The Center for the Arts is supported, in part, with funds from the Richmond County Savings Foundation; a gift by the Carnegie Corporation (made possible by an anonymous donor); the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the Office of the Borough President, Hon. James P. Molinaro; the College of Staten Island; and by our many business and individual patrons.

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Directions to the Center for the Arts, 2800 Victory Blvd., 1P, Staten Island, NY:

By Car: A few minutes’ drive from the Verrazano-Narrows, Goethals, and Bayonne bridges. Take I-278 (the Staten Island Expressway) and exit at Victory Boulevard, proceed to campus parking lots 1 and 2. Parking is free.

By NYC Transit: From Manhattan, the CFA is served by the S62, S61, X10 buses, coordinated with the Staten Island Ferry schedule. From Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the CFA is served the S93 and S53 buses. To plan your trip, use the MTA trip planner at www.tripplanner.mta.info/.