And why would Seattle Children’s Theatre (SCT) think that a play based on that book, Janell Cannon’s “Stellaluna,” would be suitable for very young audiences? Adapted by Saskia Janse.

That artwork, paired with the story Cannon wrote to accompany it, became Stellaluna, a picture book that found a home at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1993. The book’s themes of tolerance and ...