Matt de la Peña
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Matt de la Peña is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Matt de la Peña
Matt de la Peña became the first Mexican-American author to win the Newbery Medal, for Last Stop on Market Street — a picture book, remarkably — and his work consistently finds poetry in buses, barrios, and grandmothers.
De la Peña reached college on a basketball scholarship and discovered books only there; he has written that he tells stories for kids like his younger self, who didn't yet know reading was for them.
Also by this author: Carmela Full of Wishes · Love · Milo Imagines the World
Official website: mattdelapena.com
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.