Last Stop on Market Street

Title: Last Stop on Market Street

Author: Matt de la Peña

Illustrator: Christian Robinson

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards: Newbery Award, Caldecott Award

Age Group: K–5th 

I was excited to read Last Stop on Market Street after hearing that it won both the Newbery and Caldecott Awards! This book is all about CJ's attitude and appreciation of the world around him growing. At first, CJ is not so keen on the idea of having to walk in the rain to the bus instead of being nice and dry in a car. His nana helps him to see beauty in the little things and in the people around him. They meet lots of people on the bus, including a man who is blind and one who plays the guitar. The music was very magical for CJ. The book ends with CJ and his nana passing a magnificent rainbow amidst dirty streets as they go to work in a soup kitchen.

I would use this book in my classroom for sure! It is a sweet book about appreciating life no matter what situation you are in. CJ is comparing his life to others, and his Nana wisely re-directs him back to the beauty of his own life and the things he encounters. It is a good reminder for students that their attitudes can completely change the way they look at the world.

This book seems fitting for Kindergarten through 5th grade. The text is very simple but powerful, and the illustrations are beautiful and so vibrant! It is a story that many students could relate to, which is very meaningful for the readers. 

Here are some excellent ideas that I found to go along with Last Stop on Market Street! These would be pretty easy to create yourself so that you can put your own spin on them.

Click the titles for a link to the TPT product to see the examples.

• Vocabulary Activity: There are some different uses of certain words in this book that students may not be familiar with. Some of these words are "freckled" (not the little dots on people's cheeks), "plucking", and "lurched". There is a very helpful worksheet on TPT that will give students a better understanding of this word.
• Reading Restaurant & Observation Journal: This lesson plan is FREE and it has so many great activities in it! A couple of my favorites were the Reading Restaurant, where students get a menu with different questions about the story on each square of the grid, and the Observation Journal, where students can write down things they notice about their school, their home, their classroom, etc.