The Secret of Life: A Story Book

The Backstory:

I've always said The Muse moves in mysterious ways.

For a while now, I've been volunteering with the Sacramento non-profit organization 916 Ink which promotes youth literacy by empowering students through creative writing. Two semesters ago, I had the opportunity to work with Crystal Linnet:  teacher, mother, explorer, and 916 Ink Wordslinger. During one of our classroom prompts, she dashed off this amazing little poem and it got us thinking...

​Illustrations would be fun.

​Here's what Crystal and I came up with.

The Secret of Life  
Words by Crystal Linnet
Pictures By Caren Halvorsen

The Secret of life, said the Fox, is to outsmart the hunter.

The secret of life, said The Owl, is to learn to grow wise.

The secret of life, said the squirrel, is to store up for those long winters.

The secret of life, said the Salmon, is to swim against the current.

The secret of life, said the tortoise, is to hide when danger is near.

The secret of life, said the Dolphin, is to surf life's many waves.

The secret of life, said the Elephant, is to take care of one another.

And the secret of life, said the cat?

Hmmm...
I'm not telling you. You'll have to figure it out yourself.
Now, run to the store, human.

I'm outta cat food!

The End