Last Stop on Market Street

I purchased this book as a Christmas present for my toddler nephew and it became his favorite new book of the year! I had read the story randomly in a store some years ago as the title, awards, and cover illustration caught my eye. Growing up as a 90s kid, I cannot recall being exposed to a variety of diverse books especially ones that take place in the city and Last Stop on Market Street stuck with me. It depicts the city life well, how for some the only transportation is the bus, and the value of community by giving your time to help and connect with others. The illustrations are beautifully done and the story captures both CJ's imaginations and observations wells. My brother especially loved how wise CJ's grandmother is as she guides him during their journey and teaches him at a young age how to help those in need.

Great read and lots of great lessons for children and wonderful illustrations. Very well written. I highly recommend this book.

This is a fantastic book for people who live in an urban environment. My almost-3 year old son loves this book and I suspect it is because he can relate to riding the bus and loves the guy playing guitar. It is also a good tool for continuing our conversations about people who do not have enough to eat, maybe don't have places to live, and who struggle. These are concepts that we have introduced in the past but the book is not heavy-handed about these issues if they are new to your child. My son would not understand that their destination is a "soup kitchen" but we talk about that. Now when we read it he recognizes what the boy and his grandmother are doing on the final pages. I really enjoy the sarcastic tone and "dialect" of English the grandmother speaks. I particularly enjoyed that she gives the same explanation for rain: so that the trees can drink! Her description of "straws" also has led my son and I to talk about how trees suck up water when we are walking in the rain. Overall, it was one of my most successful recent children's book purchases. It was an instant favorite for my son (and he's a bit particular and prefers books exclusively featuring musical instruments)!

I’ve been trying to find books my son (6) would enjoy reading. He's asked me to read this one to him every night for like a week now. It’s a sweet story and the illustrations are beautiful. I’m really glad I bought it.

This story has a lovely story that is a great teaching moment for young children. I enjoyed the illustrations and I find these stories about real life situations of other people in other circumstances other than your own offer great teaching moments for the young readers....Recommend you read it to your young children and it gives you a good opportunity to explain to your children that even those who have much less than you do....but, have love and family are wealthy in their own way....and to express all types of families exist and are all just as important and your individual family is to you. Important that they are getting more books out that offer important lessons about life to young people...to grow their empathy for others...and caring feelings for others from a young age. Recommend

this book makes me ache in a good way. living in a rural, remote setting, the idea of public transportation is in itself enough to ignite my imagination in this book. we all need cars where my grandsons live and so this book right away becomes a foreign adventure. and what an adventure! with a grandmother who views the world poetically and with a deep sense of humanity. this book embraces the love between generations all the while it also delivers an important message about caring for others beyond our immediate family and to see everyone as an extension of our family. i wish i had had this book in my life when i was a young child.

It is so rare to find a book with a POC protagonist, especially in children's books. The story is of a boy and his grandmother who take the bus after church (religion is not part of this you just know they came out of a church building) on a Sunday morning. The little boy is not happy about taking the bus. He wants to ride in a car to their destination. On the bus, he meets and sees lots of different and unique people. Then finally they get the last stop, Market Street. The last stop is a neighborhood that's not so nice, but his grandmother tells him to look past the dirt and find the things that are beautiful. Eventually, they make it to their destination, a soup kitchen, where they meet and serve the people they see every Sunday. Annoyed as he was, the little boy is now grateful and glad that they came. I like this story for one simple reason, it reminds me of all the adventures I took with my great-grandmother on the bus to the library, museum, downtown, and church. Usually on Sundays, it was always me and her. To see that relationship manifested into a book was such a joy when I discovered it. I bought this book for my son who I now take to the library, museum, downtown, and church. Albeit, we usually travel by car, but every once and a while, we will actually take the bus because of that unique experience I had with my own grandmother. I wish the lesson of being thankful for what you have and helping others and seeing the good in things when it looks bad on the surface wasn't so nuanced. That is why I only gave four stars, but other than that, it is a superb book. It is really is a must for ALL home libraries whether you are a POC or not.

This book is beautifully written and my 4 year old loves it! We purchased this after seeing it highly recommended and trying to diversify our sons library and I am so glad we bought it. I adore reading it to him and it's never one of his picks that I just suffer through. And he often chooses it on his own, which says a lot of a 4 year old. I would recommend this book to any parent, because it is just a great story, plain and simple. There is so much to love about this one!

Recensito su commonsensemedia.org con molte stelle mi aspettavo forse qualcosa di più. Comunque carino, educativo, commovente. LAscia, come è comprensibile, aperte molte domande.

The boys are 4, 6 and 8. Not their absolute favourite, but a good one.

Habla de valores y de como valorar las pequeñas cosas del día a día. A nuestros hijos les encanta.

Favorite!

Very good item.