Something Beautiful

Something Beautiful 

Wyeth, S. (1998). Something beautiful. New York: Doubleday Books for Young Readers. 

This is a story about a young African American girl who initially sees only the ugliness in her neighborhood. The narrator looks though her window and sees ugly. She sees trash in the courtyard, a broken bottle, writing in the halls, and "DIE" on her door. Walking around the town she sees more ugly. She sees a lady who lives in a cardboard box, a dark ally that mom tells her never to stop at and a garden with no flowers. She wants to find something beautiful in this ugly world so she asks her friends what they find and they name things that make them happy. When she goes home, she sees all the ugly again and decides that she is going to make it beautiful.After pointing out the various “ugly” aspects of her neighborhood, she seeks to find “something beautiful”.  The young girl wants to find her own “something beautiful”. The story focuses on the effects of social inequality and poverty. 

This story has many important implications. Not only is it a terrific read aloud oppertunity. It also presents opportunities to study illustrations for more detail. The illustrations provide a realistic feel to the heavy issues presented. I would read this book with a focus on philanthropy and what it means to be a philanthropist. This would need to be done with an older grade, maybe 3rd-5th. I would conduct a grand discussion and discuss with the children what she did to make her community a better house. I would have the students talk about what it beautiful in their life and lead them away from aesthetic answers. I would pair this book with a short service learning project in which the students conduct volunteer work. I would want to focus on the beauty in the world that is not associated with appearances.    

Here are some potential activities!