Charlotte Chorpenning once said: "Fairy tales are the voices of long ago and distant, calling to the desires of today" (Maes). All cultures and all countries are rich in stories of magic, mystery and adventure; Chorpenning has taken these rich stories and put them on stage for children. Passionate about children and teaching them, Charlotte Chorpenning was the voice and writer of the world of children's theater in the mid-20th century, writing and adapting countless children's plays. Charlotte Chorpenning's writings and adaptations of children's plays have changed the world of children's theater by nearly doubling the repertoire for children's theater and continuing to portray a traditional moral message in her works. Chorpenning's experience with teaching and dealing with children helped shape and influence his writing. Before she began writing and adapting children's plays, Chorpenning was an English teacher in Minnesota, where she taught until her early twenties. This is where he began to get to know children and discover what they liked and what would entertain them on stage. He also directed children's plays before he began writing them. He spent several years directing plays at the Goodman Theatre. This is where he realized that what he really wanted to do was write plays for children. Therefore, when he was sixty years old, he followed his dream and began writing for children. Before Chorpenning began writing, there were very few plays for children, which is why she was so interested in writing specifically for children. Before Chorpenning, there were only a handful of shows aimed specifically at children. When he died, he had the double... half the paper... the other and the father at the conclusion of the show (Martin). Chorpenning was committed to ensuring that people didn't just watch the plays, but that they got something out of the experience of seeing them, especially children. This is what drove her to write and adapt so many plays in her life. Charlotte Chorpenning has made an impact on the world of children's theater by almost doubling the number of plays available to children, always sending them a positive message. Teaching children for much of his life inspired Chorpenning to write plays for children, and his plays have been generally accepted by critics for the positive message they convey. Without Charlotte Chorpenning, children's theater would not be the same as it is today. Without his contribution to the children's theater repertoire and his positive message, who knows where the theater world would be now.