As Valentine’s Day is coming, I thought I’d pair a few books that show how we can share love through creative pursuits that strengthen our communities.
Hey Wall: A Story of Art and Community
Author: Susan Verde
Illustrator: John Parra
Publisher/Date: A Paula Wiseman Book (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)/2018
Ages: 4-8
Themes: art; community; wall; street art
Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):
One creative boy.
One bare, abandoned wall.
One BIG idea.
There is a wall in Ángel’s neighborhood. Around it, the community bustles with life: music, dancing, laughing. Not the wall. It is bleak. One boy decides to change that. But he can’t do it alone.
Read a review at Children’s Books Heal.
Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood
Author: F. Isabel Campoy & Theresa Howell
Illustrator: Rafael López
Publisher/Date: HMH Books/2016
Ages: 4-7
Themes: murals; art; community; wall
Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):
What good can a splash of color do in a community of gray? As Mira and her neighbors discover, more than you might ever imagine! Based on the true story of the Urban Art Trail in San Diego, California, Maybe Something Beautiful reveals how art can inspire transformation and how even the smallest artists can accomplish something big. Pick up a paintbrush and join the celebration!
Read a review at All the Wonders.
I paired these books because they show how something that we generally think of as a barrier, something that can divide us, can also unite us. In Hey Wall, the unnamed young narrator addresses the wall directly and shows readers how that old, “lonely concrete” wall can be changed with “pencil”, “paints”, and “dreams” to tell the story of the community, that is “somethin’ to see”. In Maybe Something Beautiful, the young protagonist spreads color across a gray city, one picture at a time, until she partners with a muralist to bring color to all. I love how children lead the way to transformation in both books, I love the multicultural communities depicted, and I love the centrality of art to bringing communities together. How will you share beauty, and love, in your neighborhood or city today?
Looking for similar reads?
For another creative treatment of walls, see The Wall in the Middle of the Book .
Wander, Ponder, Write 
Loved the pairing of these two books! Will have to read “Maybe Something Beautiful.” Thank you for sharing my review.
Loved finding that I could cite your review!
I’ve read the Wall in the Middle of this Book, but I am definitely going to look for the other one. Thanks for the idea.
Walls are great metaphors, and blank slates, as these books show, I think.