Book Descriptions
for Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin and Maribel Lechuga
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Lily and her grandma are making the long drive to her grandma’s home, where Lily will now be living. As she and Gram leave in the still-dark of pre-dawn, the car tires hum. “Lily felt the vibration in her hollow chest.” When Gram suggests they look for ten beautiful things along the journey, skeptical Lily doesn’t think anything will ever be beautiful again. Then the sun breaks over the horizon. As they drive for hours through a largely rural landscape, they each find things to add to their list. A dramatic thunderstorm clears just as they finally arrive at Grandma’s home, where Lily sadly notes they’ve only found nine things. “ We’re ten,” Gram reassures her. “None of this was easy. Maybe it would never be easy. But she belonged with Gram now. She belonged here now.” A picture book text that keenly conveys both Lily’s feelings and the physical landscape of her journey doesn’t offer an explanation for the change in Lily’s life, allowing readers and listeners to make sense of the situation in whatever way is meaningful to them. Digital and watercolor illustrations showing Lily and Gram as white strikingly capture the landscape of their journey and the ten beautiful things they find. (Ages 3-8)
CCBC Choices 2022. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2022. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A heartfelt story of changing perspectives, set in the Midwest. Ten Beautiful Things gently explores loss, a new home, and finding beauty wherever you are.
Lily and her grandmother search for ten beautiful things as they take a long car ride to Iowa and Lily's new home with Gran. At first, Lily sees nothing beautiful in the April slush and cloudy sky. Soon though, Lily can see beauty in unexpected places, from the smell of spring mud to a cloud shaped like a swan to a dilapidated barn. A furious rainstorm mirrors Lily's anxiety, but as it clears Lily discovers the tenth beautiful thing: Lily and Gran and their love for each other.
Ten Beautiful Things leaves the exact cause of Lily's move ambiguous, making it perfect for anyone helping a child navigate change, whether it be the loss of a parent, entering or leaving a foster home, or moving.
Lily and her grandmother search for ten beautiful things as they take a long car ride to Iowa and Lily's new home with Gran. At first, Lily sees nothing beautiful in the April slush and cloudy sky. Soon though, Lily can see beauty in unexpected places, from the smell of spring mud to a cloud shaped like a swan to a dilapidated barn. A furious rainstorm mirrors Lily's anxiety, but as it clears Lily discovers the tenth beautiful thing: Lily and Gran and their love for each other.
Ten Beautiful Things leaves the exact cause of Lily's move ambiguous, making it perfect for anyone helping a child navigate change, whether it be the loss of a parent, entering or leaving a foster home, or moving.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
