Something Beautiful (1998) by Sharon Dennis Wyeth is a tale of empowerment. Written in the first person, a young girl says, "When I look through my window . . . There is trash in the courtyard and a broken bottle that looks like fallen stars." Graffiti mars her front door, and a homeless woman sleeps on the sidewalk. After learning the word beautiful at school, she walks around asking for examples. Her friends reply: a jump rope, beads, new shoes, apples, and dance moves. Upon returning home, "I pick up the trash. I sweep up the glass. . .I feel powerful. Someday I'll plant flowers in my courtyard." Chris K. Soentpiet's illustrations are filled with light that brightens the gloomy environment of this child's neighborhood.
In the author's
note, Sharon Dennis Wyeth writes, "When I was eight years old, I asked my
mother... for something beautiful. She gave me one of her wedding gifts: a
small white china pitcher... I still have the little pitcher. . . It helps keep
alive the memory of childhood and my mother's love."
Alexis Reddy has Assessment Something Beautiful.
