Something Beautiful

by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, Chris K. Soentpiet (Illustrator)

Overview

An inspiring story that reminds us that beauty is everywhere.

Can a city be beautiful if there's trash on the streets and graffiti on the walls? A little girl finds out when her teacher writes the word "beautiful" on the blackboard and the girl decides to look for beauty in her neighborhood.

There's the “beautiful” fried fish sandwich at Miss Delphine diner, Mr. Lee’s “beautiful” fruit store, and the “beautiful” smooth stone Old Mr. Sims always carries. The girl soon understands that beautiful means “that when you have it, your heart is happy.” Young readers will enjoy appreciating the beauty of friendship and the power of hope in this encouraging story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780440412106
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	01/08/2002
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	222,333
Product dimensions:	8.13(w) x 10.88(h) x 0.17(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Sharon Dennis Wyeth is a children’s author, poet, and memoirist with over fifty books published. Among her titles are the classic Something Beautiful, a Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year; Always My Dad, a Reading Rainbow Book; the American Girl book Evette: The River and Me, recipient of the 2021 Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award; and the Step Into Reading leveled reader Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom. Wyeth’s memoir piece “I’m a Dancer” was featured in the award-winning anthology The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth.

Wyeth is a recipient of the Stephen Crane Literary Award, an NAACP Education Award, a Mid-Atlantic Arts Award, and a Cave Canem Fellowship for African American poets. Additional book honors include citations from the Children's Book Council, LAMDA Literary Awards, and the New York Public Library. 

Wyeth is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University, with an MFA in creative writing and memoir from Hunter College, where she received the prestigious Shuster Award. She is a visiting Associate Professor of creative writing in the Children’s Literature Department at Hollins University. Learn more about her work at sharondenniswyeth.com.

Chris K. Soentpiet (pronounced soon-pete) was born in South Korea, and moved to Hawaii when he was eight years old. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute in New York City. He was the recipient of the 1996 International Reading Award for his illustrations for More Than Anything Else. He was also awarded the 1996 gold medal at the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show, for Peacebound Trains. In his spare time, Mr. Soentpiet promotes the love of children's literature and the arts by speaking at schools across the country. Learn more about his work at chrissoentpiet.com and follow him on Instagram at @chrissoentpiet.

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher

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

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.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly