Sharon Dennis Wyeth on beauty, imagination and hope in Tar Beach
Sharon Dennis Wyeth is the author of many meaningful and thought-provoking stories. I recently reached out to her about Something Beautiful. This is one of the first books that came to my mind when exploring the character strength Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence.
Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Sharon Dennis Wyeth is an award-winning author of over fifty books, including: Something Beautiful, a classroom classic that has been in print for 25 years; Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom; A Piece of Heaven; Evette: The River and Me, and others. Read more about her and work at www.sharondenniswyeth.com.
Something Beautiful is a special book that speaks to the essence of this character strength. In the story, a little girl looks out her window to see trash, a brick wall and “broken glass that looks like fallen stars.” Someone has written the word “die” on the door to her building and there is a person sleeping in the street and a scary alley nearby.
At school, she’s taught the word “beautiful” and goes on a quest to find beauty in her life. She is able to find it everywhere: from the fried fish sandwich at the diner to her friend dancing, the beautiful fruit at the bodega to a baby’s laugh at the laundromat, she is able to find beauty everywhere.
The little girl wonders about beauty. Is beauty just physical? What does it mean to be beautiful on the inside? Can beauty be found anywhere? What makes something beautiful and who gets to decide what is beautiful?
The story leaves you with a feeling of elevation and a sense of meaning. It is an empowering book to read with kids to explore themes of perspective, power, resilience, and self-awareness, and to more deeply understand the character strength Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence.
Written by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
Can a city be beautiful if there's trash on the streets and graffiti on the walls? A little girl soon understands that beautiful means “that when you have it, your heart is happy” and discovers beauty big and small in her daily life.
As someone who deeply understands this strength, Sharon seemed an ideal person to ask about her favorite children’s book on beauty. She recommended Tar Beach, an award-winning and elevating book that is also featured in the book guide for Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence and often explored by educators in discussion of freedom, imagination, love and beauty.
By Faith Ringgold
Published by Dragonfly Books
Cassie Louise Lightfoot has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on “tar beach,” the rooftop of her family’s Harlem apartment building, her dreams come true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city, claiming the buildings and the city as her own.
Sharon says: Tar Beach is an iconic book for me, both for the confident voice of the child narrator and the beauty and magical realism of Ringgold's illustrations. The story welcomes the reader into the intimate circle of a Black urban family during segregation. Confronted by barriers in the outside world, the family creates a joyful world of their own on the roof of their apartment building, coined by the narrator as "tar beach."
Within the safety of her family circle, Cassie, the child narrator, discovers the freedom of imagination as she envisions herself lifted by the stars and flying over the city, claiming ownership of its bridge and tall buildings. Cassie's flight promises a hopeful and limitless future which she shares with her little brother as well as the reader.
This visionary autobiographical work reminds the reader of barriers Ringgold doubtless encountered and eventually overcame on her journey to become an award-winning Black female artist. The book also highlights the ingenuity of loving parents set on creating abundant joy in the here and now for their children.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful words and wisdom with us, Sharon.
Here’s a video portrait of Faith Ringgold, author, artist and activist.
For more on Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, explore why this character strength is important and what it means here, read about Nell Cross Beckerman’s three favorite books evoking awe here, or view guides for this strength and related strengths of transcendence below.
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