Last Stop on Market Street
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me stage.
Why it fits Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me (for the kindergarten-ready set, between being read to and reading alone)
CJ and his nana ride the bus and learn to find the beautiful in the everyday. It models gratitude and community without a whiff of lecture. Newbery Medal, Caldecott Honor - and it earns both.
What makes it special
De la Peña gives CJ's complaints the dignity of real questions and Nana's answers the shine of practiced wisdom. Christian Robinson's flat, joyful acrylics find beauty in buses, rain, and the soup kitchen line — the book's whole argument, painted. It teaches wealth-of-attention in an economy obsessed with the other kind.
From the publisher
Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn't he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always…
About Matt de la Peña
Matt de la Peña won the 2016 Newbery Medal for the picture book Last Stop on Market Street, illustrated by Christian Robinson — the first Hispanic American author to win the medal. He writes both picture books and young adult novels, and attended the University of the Pacific on a full athletic scholarship for basketball.
De la Peña has said he did not read a novel all the way through until after high school; he finished his first one on a college basketball road trip. He writes for young readers from working-class backgrounds.
Also by this author: Carmela Full of Wishes · Love · Milo Imagines the World
More from “True Stories, Big World”
This book is part of The Best Books for Beginning Readers: 30 Teacher Picks (Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.