Something Beautiful is a book by Sharon Dennis Wyeth and illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet.
For us, this book was about recognizing need around you. It is a story of a girl that is on the search for “something beautiful,” as she finds herself surrounded by angry words and areas abandoned of care. In her quest, she learns from the people in her neighborhood what is beautiful to them. She comes to appreciate that “beautiful” is simply something that makes her heart happy. At the beginning of the story, she sees things that are ugly and just passes by . . . towards the end of the story, she starts to recognize and ACT on making changes so that those “ugly” things are lessened and beauty is found
This is a great book for us. It opportunities to talk to my boys about:
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What makes them happy.
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Do they agree with the characters in the book about what brings happiness and is, therefore, beautiful.
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How they bring happiness and beauty to others.
A big theme in the conversation with my boys was about the work that we did in Oklahoma in helping others find moments of happiness admit the devastation:
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Finding the 2 by 4 inch family picture.
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Finding the hand crocheted candy cane Christmas ornament.
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Handing out flashlights at dusk so that the survivors could continue the work of recovering their possessions before it rained.
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Listening to the woman talk about Lucky Duck and how Lucky Duck miraculously survived the tornado.
And, then, my 6 year old said,”Serving brings happiness.” You could see the moment coming . . . “Service is something beautiful.” Yes, service IS beautiful. Well said.
