Last Stop on Market Street

3/2/2021

G.P.Putnam & Sons, 2015; A Caldecott Honor, Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

"They sat right up front.
The man across the way was tuning a guitar.
An old woman with curlers had butterflies in a jar.
Nana gave everyone a great big smile and a "good afternoon."
She made sure CJ did the same.

The bus lurched forward and stopped,
lurched forward and stopped.
Nana hummed as she knit.
"How come we always gotta go here after church?" CJ said.
"Miguel and Colby never have to go nowhere.""

Matt De La Pena

I am familiar with De La Pena ( 1976 -) through his YA novels such as We Were Here, Ball Don't Lie, and Mexican Whiteboy. He's written six picture books, three of which are illustrated by Robinson. Milo Imagines the World is their most recent publication and was highlighted in February on NPR's Special Series: Picture This.

Christian Robinson

Robinson (1986 - ) worked with Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar before beginning to illustrate children's books in 2012. He describes how an author and illustrator work together to create a picture book in this wonderful PBS clip, The Art of Making Pictures Speak to Children. Robinson has illustrated 17 picture books.

Book Synopsis

After church CJ and his Nana take the bus across town. But CJ is full of questions throughout the trip: why do that have to go, why can't they drive a car, why doesn't he own an iPod. Most of all he doesn't like the part of town they visit. Nana answers each question with imagination and beauty, redirecting CJ with gratitude.

Picture book, 32 pages. Nana and CJ's take the bus across town; CJ's trip is filled with discontent, but Nana takes an entirely different trip.

In Simplicity Parenting Kim John Payne defines a child's "soul fever" as

"something not right; they're upset, overwhelmed, at odds with the world. And most of all, at odds with their truest selves."

In Last Stop on Market Street CJ is at a fork in the road between awareness and discontent. A child's discontent develops from either too many choices or deprivation. Nana is a great model for parents in listening closely and responding to CJ's real need.

Learning Options

A Family Read Aloud Time
If I were reading this book to my Little Guy who loves bright colors and delights in drawing circles, I would take the time to point out the shapes and colors as we go along. When he is a bit older we can start talking about why Nana and CJ travel to volunteer at the soup kitchen every week.

Classroom Resource
Last Stop on Market Street is an excellent addition to a classroom library of picture books by authors and illustrators of color. All children need to see themselves represented in exceptional books. The publisher also provides a Teacher Guide for the study of social and emotional learning, implicit bias, and collage art.

Learning at Home
Benefits to learning at home are the endless opportunities to learn in the field - aka hands-on learning or real-life learning. Take your children on a bus ride, visit your local food bank, walk through your town or city to find as many beautiful things as possible. Finally, a good time to begin teaching about needs and wants is with toddlers; a young child would love to help you create a 2-column picture-list he can add to the fridge as a reminder!