Podcast: What Are Falk's "Magic Words"?

If you pass through Falk Laboratory School's library at certain times of day, you may hear a librarian starting story time by reciting Falk's "magic words."

If you have a current Falk student (or a student who has attended Falk in the past six years), they may be able to tell you the magic words from memory. If not, they are

Out of time and into grace

We enter now a magic space

Protect us as we venture far

And speak of things that never were but always are.

The magic words then conclude with three snaps. (And, very important, at the conclusion of the story the class snaps three times to "snap out of" the story.)

The magic words are a way of settling down and preparing to enter the world of the story, leaving behind whatever came before; likewise, snapping out of a story is a way to leave behind anything scary or unsettling the child may have encountered there.

Falk's magic words were discovered by librarian Benoni Outerbridge, and they come from the book Mean Jake and the Devils by William H. Hooks, illustrated by Dirk Zimmer.

To learn more about the origins of the magic words and what makes them special, we spoke to Mr. Outerbridge for this brief podcast episode.

Listen here.