Something Beautiful

by Sharon Dennis Wyeth Narrated by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Overview

For readers of Newbery Winner Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña.

Everyday a young girl is disheartened by the things in her neighborhood: the trash on the streets, the graffiti on the walls, and the homeless woman that sleeps in a box. When she learns the word "beautiful" at school, she sets out to find "something beautiful" in her surroundings. In her search, this little girl learns to see beyond the barren ugliness of her environment to find beauty in her friendships, her family, and herself.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In PW's words, "This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find `something beautiful' in even the most unlikely places." All ages. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find "something beautiful" in even the most unlikely places. An African American girl initially sees only the ugliness of her neighborhood. There is "trash in the courtyard and a broken bottle that looks like fallen stars." On her front door, someone has scrawled the word "DIE," and a homeless lady "sleeps on the sidewalk, wrapped in plastic." Searching for something beautiful--"something that when you have it, your heart is happy"--she polls various neighbors. For an old man it is the touch of a smooth stone; for Miss Delphine, it's the taste of the fried fish sandwich in her diner; for Aunt Carolyn, it's the sound of her baby's laugh. When the girl decides to create her own "something beautiful," she picks up the trash, scrubs her door clean and realizes, "I feel powerful." Wyeth's (Always My Dad) restrained text is thoughtful without being didactic. She creates a city landscape that is neither too dark nor too sweet; and her ending is just right, with the heroine's mother saying that her daughter is her "something beautiful." Soentpiet's (Peacebound Trains) paintings are luminously lifelike. Whether depicting the girl running past a chain-link fence in a dark alley or Miss Delphine's patrons sitting beneath the rows of glinting glasses, the paintings focus on a community with characters so real, readers can almost feel the sunlight on their faces. All ages. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find ‘something beautiful’ in even the most unlikely places.”—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178820223
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	05/10/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	Up to 4 Years

Read an Excerpt

When I look through my window, I see a brick wall. There is trash in the courtyard and a broken bottle that looks like fallen stars.

There is writing in the halls of my building. On the front door, someone wrote the word Die.


The teacher taught me the word in school. I wrote it in my book. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Beautiful! I think it means something that when you have it, your heart is happy.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

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