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.
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.
