Katie Couric's "The Brand New Kid"

“It sometimes takes courage,” Katie Couric wrote in the introduction to her children’s book “The Brand New Kid,” “but I hope this story will inspire all of us to reach out and make someone feel a little less scared and a little less lonely.” The beloved TV personality’s story has been adapted into a musical for the very young, and it’s become a rousing, cross-country success. It’s the very first day of second grade, and Lazlo S. Gasky is the new kid in school. Because he doesn’t look or speak like the others, however, the teasing and taunting begin. When Ellie McSnelly realizes how tough Lazlo has it, she risks being ridiculed herself to spend an afternoon with him. The two ultimately teach their classmates a valuable lesson about the need to give others a chance. “At school the next day the kids stopped her and said/’You were walking with Lazlo, are you sick in the head?’/Ellie paused and replied, ‘Now I know him, you see,/Lazlo isn’t that different from you and from me.’” With its gentle lessons about tolerance and inclusion, “The Brand New Kid” is a story that all children will enjoy and understand. And with its delightfully singable songs, it’s a theater experience they won’t soon forget.