You Are a Beautiful Beginning

by Nina Laden, Kelsey Garrity-Riley (Illustrator)

Overview

It is not the destination, but the journey.

Inspired by this timeless adage, You Are a Beautiful Beginning combines lyrical storytelling and lovely art, blossoming into a celebration of self-love, friendship, and community. With beautiful simplicity and hidden depth, this meditative and magical picture book encourages readers old and young to discover their own endless potential. Kelsey Garrity-Riley's inviting, gently magical art pairs beautifully with a lyrical, deceptively simple text by Nina Laden to create a picture book that is equal parts inspirational story and peaceful lullaby.


It is not wishing to be different.
It is learning to love being you.

It is not the end of your story.
It is a beautiful beginning, too.



This is another uplifting and original book from bestseller Nina Laden, the creator of Peek-A-Who and the author of If I Had a Little Dream and Yellow Kayak.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250311832
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	144,959
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Nina Laden is an award-winning, bestselling children’s book author and illustrator. Her many books include The Night I Followed the Dog, Peek-a-Who, When Pigasso Met Mootisse, Roberto the Insect Architect, Once Upon a Memory, If I Had a Little Dream, and Yellow Kayak. When she is not writing or drawing, she paddleboards, takes long beach walks, hunts for agates, forages for mushrooms, makes jewelry, and cooks up a storm, amongst other things. Nina was born and raised in the New York City area, and now lives on a little island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State with her husband, Booth, and their Siberian cat, Marley.

Kelsey Garrity-Riley is an illustrator living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Germany and Belgium before moving to the US to pursue her love of art at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Kelsey's picture books include Goldie Takes a Stand, Other Wordly, Born to Ride, and Frankie's Favorite Foods.

Editorial Reviews

The children’s story emphasizes a positive sense of self and optimism for what the journey tomorrow will bring. On discouraging days, this book will help readers find their place in the world with greater love for themselves and others.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2020-06-30
Page after page of gentle affirmations to support self-acceptance and resolve self-doubts.

After drawing an imagined adventure, a slicker-clad elementary-age kid leaves a house nestled in a small community and journeys to a nearby woodland. Soothing sentence pairs follow a predictable pattern: “It is not how far you traveled. / It is the journey that you took.” Along the way, the protagonist, who has brown hair and light beige skin, is joined by two neighbors, a brown-skinned child with glasses and black curly hair tucked under a hat and an extremely pale White kid with blond hair. Throughout the day, they plan, scavenge, build, and finally enjoy a clubhouse under a huge tree. “It is not being a hero. / It is being part of a team. // It is not putting up walls. / It is about building a dream.” All the while, the children are surrounded by trees shown in richly colored realistic images—with just a touch of fantasy—standing out against a white background. Fairies, gnomes in pointed hats, and anthropomorphic rocks, flowers, animals, and insects are never far from the action. (Humanoid figures are diverse.) At the end of the day, the children’s story emphasizes a positive sense of self and optimism for what the journey tomorrow will bring. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 82% of actual size.)

On discouraging days, this book will help readers find their place in the world with greater love for themselves and others. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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