Book Discussion Guide

Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Something Beautiful

“Everyone needs something beautiful,” a mother tells her daughter. As the little girl looks around her neighborhood, she has a hard time finding her “beautiful.” As she begins to ask around, she realizes there are beautiful things all around her. As you watch the main character find her own beautiful, you will be inspired by the choices she makes to create beauty around her and the ways in which she becomes an influence for good in her community. Your family might relate to this book as the text and illustrations describes this bright little girls life. After reading Something Beautiful, you will be excited to find and create “something beautiful” in your own community!

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Questions To Talk About
While Reading

Vocabulary

It's important to make sure that your child has an understanding of key words in the book. Talking about words while reading is a great way for your child to learn new words.

In this book, you might talk about these words:

  • courtyard (pg. 1)
  • sizzles (pg. 11)
  • launderette (pg. 21)
  • cautioned (pg. 29 - The Author's Note)

You might use a question like:

In the book, what does the word launderette mean? How does the image help you understand the word?

Key Ideas and Themes

In addition to words, it's important to talk about key ideas and themes and how they develop over the course of the book.

Here are some examples to get you started:

  • 1

    The author uses words and pictures at the beginning of the story to describe her neighborhood. Using the words and pictures on pages 1-8 to help you, talk about some of the tougher aspects of the narrator’s neighborhood.

  • 2

    The word beautiful is central to the story. Ask your child how the narrator defines beautiful? Talk about how this definition compares to your own understanding of beautiful.

  • 3

    As the girl walks through her community, she asks people to explain their “something beautiful.” What are some things that the people in her community find beautiful?

  • 4

    How does the girl’s attitude change across the text? What causes this change? Can you point out in the text where these changes happen?

  • 5

    Compare the words and illustration on the first four pages to the last pages. How are they similar and different? What do the author and illustrator do on the last four pages to make you feel hopeful?

  • 6

    One theme in this book is that each person in a community can be an influence for good. What events in the book make you think about this theme? Can you find any other themes in the book?

Extra Activities

  • 1

    What are some things that the girl or other characters in the book do to make their community more beautiful? Make a list of these ideas. Now, make another list of things that are beautiful in your own community. As a family, create and carry out a plan to improve your community in some way.

  • 2

    In the story, the narrator interviews people in her community to understand what each person sees as “something beautiful.” Help your child to name a few community members he or she could interview to find out what they find to be beautiful. Together, contact those individuals and arrange an interview. Your child can then create a poster, describing these beautiful things using words and pictures.