The Secret Room

The Secret Room is a folklore written by Uri Shulevitz in 1993.  Uri Shulevitz was born in Poland, Warsaw and his experiences have helped shaped the award winning children's book that he is famous for composing today.  The Secret Room is a witty tale of a king who sets out on an exploration to figure out why the old mans beard is darker than his hair.  The wry old man replies by saying "because my head is older than my beard" and promises the king he will not give away his answer to anyone until he has seen the kings face ninety-nine times.  The author is extremely clever is in writing skills and the chief counselor pays the old man one thousand gold coins to tell him why his hair is more gray than his beard.  Although the king thinks that the old man lied to him, he essentially stayed true to his promise as he saw the kings face ninety-nine times on the one thousand gold coins the chief commander payed him.  After discovering this, the king then realizes just how smart the old man is and makes him the chief commander and fires the old one. This story is one that will stick in the hearts of all readers as it is comical, yet tells the story of an old man who was in the desert. Reading this story would introduce students to a culture unknown to them and very different from their own as we do not have kings in the United States of America.  Through reading this, students are able to expand their horizons and understand the differences among people in the world today.