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Something Beautiful

Author Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Read by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
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On sale May 10, 2022 | 7 Minutes | 978-0-593-63350-2
| Preschool - 2
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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.
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. View titles by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
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.
. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
  • WINNER | 2000
    Arkansas Charlie May Simon Master List
  • WINNER | 2000
    Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Master List
"This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find "something beautiful" in even the most unlikely places. . . .Soentpiet's paintings are luminously lifelike. [T]he paintings focus on a community so real, readers can almost feel the sunlight on their faces."
--Publishers Weekly

About

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.

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. View titles by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

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.
. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Awards

  • WINNER | 2000
    Arkansas Charlie May Simon Master List
  • WINNER | 2000
    Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Master List

Praise

"This moving picture book offers a shining testament to the ability of human beings to find "something beautiful" in even the most unlikely places. . . .Soentpiet's paintings are luminously lifelike. [T]he paintings focus on a community so real, readers can almost feel the sunlight on their faces."
--Publishers Weekly

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