Anaïs Zafeiropoulou: The children’s questions that gave birth to a fairy tale

Teachers are strange creatures, their hair dusted with glitter, stickers, and tempera paint. They dwell in schools to water the plants and look after our things. They never go on vacation, but simply wait for the children to return. But what happens when one teacher escapes?

Let’s see what Anaïs Zafeiropoulou reveals about the inspiration behind her new book, Teachers Are Creatures Τhat Ιnhabit in Schools, illustrated by Vasilis Koutsogiannis.

"In this fairy tale, I have summarized the words and opinions of my students over the last few years regarding teachers, and about me personally. I have heard many times that I am 100 years old, and I have been caught off guard countless times by questions like, 'But why do you have a child if you’re a teacher? Why do you have a husband if teachers don't get married? Why do you eat breakfast, too? Why did you go on vacation—who looked after the school while you were gone?' and many others. In the 10 years I have been teaching in schools, I hear the same questions every single year.

Another recurring pattern in my students' behavior is their reaction when they see me outside of school. Whether they meet me at my children's school, or at the supermarket, in toy stores, or on the street, they are left astonished and wide-mouthed, staring into my eyes without answering any of my questions. They don't even say hello!

This year, it happened once again that I ran into a student of mine at a toy store. Even though he is a child who talks incessantly, is fond of me, and we have a close rapport, as soon as he saw me, he stood still with his mouth wide open. His mother was laughing nearby, and no matter how much she asked him to say 'hi,' he stood there as if he had seen a ghost. When my daughter approached me, that was when he was truly shocked.

The next day, when he came to school, he looked at me motionless and from a distance. Slowly, he approached me and asked, 'Why were you at the toy store yesterday and not at school?' His mother told me that he had been thinking about it all afternoon. Once he entered the classroom, everything seemed fine. He didn't say anything to the other children in the class, and he would often give me a mischievous smile.

Since then, this story has been spinning around in my head. I use it at the beginning of every year to give the children the opportunity to tell me what they think a teacher does and what the characteristics of a good teacher are. It is a wonderful way for me to learn right from the start what they expect of me, while using a little humor to overcome the awkwardness of the first day."