Begin at the Beginning by Amy Schwartz

34 p., HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, 2005. When you expect too much of yourself, it's hard to do anything at all. Sara learns this when she's assigned to paint a picture on behalf of her class. She's had a bad day at school, and is discouraged to begin with. At first, she thinks she'll paint a picture of the tree outside her window, but then she decides that she has to come up with a "very important" subject for this painting. After a large after-school snack, she decides to paint the entire earth, and in fact, the entire universe. But she finds herself unable to begin. It goes on this way until dinner time, when her whole family has ideas about how she should do it, which they express in a distressing cacophony. After dinner, Sara explains to her mother that she was going to paint the entire universe, but she can't do it. Her mother encourages her to begin at the beginning, and reminds her that the universe is made of people just like them, and rooms and houses like theirs. Sara realizes that she really can begin with the tree outside her window, and that that's manageable for her. She finally begins to paint. With simple, expressive, charming illustrations in a gentle color palette, this story shows children how to give themselves permission to let go of unrealistic expectations - an important lesson for so many children to learn. Ages 5-8

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