Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood

Name: Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood
Author: F. Isabel Campoy & Theresa Howell

by F. Isabel Campoy & Theresa Howell

One kid, some crayons, a whole gray street repainted.

For you if

you want your kid to see that making things changes places.

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$19 MSRP · Hardcover
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Mira lives on a gray street in a neighborhood that has seen better days, and she draws. When a muralist starts painting the walls, she brings her crayons, and then her neighbors come out with brushes. One by one the gray gives way to color, and a street that nobody looked at becomes a place people want to stand. Based on a true community mural project in San Diego, a picture book about what happens when art starts on the sidewalk.

Where This Book Lives

Themes: art and society community courage

Pass. Ages 4-8. Based on the Urban Art Trail in San Diego's Chollas Triangle neighborhood. Gentle; the neighborhood's gray is shown as neglect, not as the fault of its residents. No documented concerns. DoCR tie: art as a community act, kids and neighbors making together. Close relatives: The Dot, Not a Box, Roxaboxen and Hey Wall (suggested 11-06).

Same pattern, different era

Different time, different place. The same thing keeps happening.

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry