About Life is Life by Stephanie Watson

Life is Life is a short story for kids and adults told in five illustrated chapters. The story was originally served up in serial form on this website — a chapter a day. Now that all five chapters are online, the tale will continue through periodic updates.

Some people have asked how I made Angelo's cereal box apartment. I didn't make it — he did. And his red door did. But to answer your next question, yes, the candles are real!

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About Stephanie Watson

I am a storyteller who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to Life is Life, I wrote Elvis & Olive, a middle-grade novel published by Scholastic Press.

I had so much fun creating Life is Life. One of my goals with this story was to do as much as possible myself. I wrote the text, took photos of Angelo, designed the website and built it myself. Well, mostly. When I got in trouble with the website stuff I asked friends for help.
Learn more about me

About the Paintings

In Life is Life, Angelo and I take a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to see some paintings and sculpture. If you live in or near the Twin Cities, you can go see the featured art in person for free! If you aren’t in town, check out the Minneapolis Institute of Arts website.

Featured art:
Olive Trees by Vincent Van Gogh
Still Life of Dead Birds by Jan Vonck
Still Life with Pheasants and Plovers by Claude Monet
Theseus Combating the Minotaur by Antoine-Louis Bayre
Saint-Séverin by Robert Delaunay
Lucretia by Rembrandt van Rijn

About Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter who loved working with bold colors and big brushstrokes. During his short life, he created over 2,000 paintings, drawings and sketches.

Van Gogh is one of my very favorite artists, and that’s true for Angelo, too. There are three Van Gogh paintings in Life is Life: Sunflowers, Olive Trees and Vincent’s Bedroom in Arles. See these and other paintings in the online Van Gogh gallery.