Book Review- Last Stop on Market Street
Updated: Aug 23
By Matt De La Peña
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
While we like books which are conversation starters, we dislike books which are a tad bit didactic. This one traverses that thin line and comes out as being one which celebrates differing personalities, diverse viewpoints and different social inequities.
CJ and his nana have a schedule. They finish Sunday church and head to the soup kitchen. But on a particularly rainy morning, CJ is not feeling up to it. His questions range from- ‘why do we need to wait for the bus’, ‘why don't we have a car’, ‘how come we have to go to the soup kitchen everytime’ and many more.
All his questions are met with pragmatic answers from his nana who models perfectly the sensitivity those questions need to be handled with. All the while ensuring that CJ has a differing perspective on looking at things.
The diversity of characters we meet on the bus enroute to the soup kitchen, the soup kitchen itself and CJ’s appreciation for looking at things with more enthusiasm is all portrayed perfectly. I don’t know if CJ does learn to see the beauty of things and count his blessings, but he does learn to see that his nana is someone who finds beauty in the darkest of places. And if that is something he would like to emulate, it is a clear winner.
We liked the colorful textured illustrations and the color palette is both uplifting and soothing.
Conversation starter on charity, diversity and inequity. Ideal for ages 5+ yrs.
Buy the book here
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)
Comments