Books like Last Stop on Market Street
By Matt de la Peña
For the kid who complains about the wait, the weather, or why they can't have what their friends have, this is a gentle nudge toward noticing what's actually around them. Warm, unhurried, and full of everyday music — a Sunday bus ride that feels like a small adventure.
A young boy travels before dawn with his family to Granny's farm for their annual reunion, where every child must find their own way to honor the family's history — but Lil Alan isn't sure what he'll bring.
A little girl named Little Miss plants a kiss in the ground, then tends and believes in it as it grows into something far bigger than she imagined.
A mysterious storm traps a father and his kids inside their house with no end in sight, and with nothing to do, everyone starts getting on each other's nerves.
An aspiring young musician hauls his double bass through busy city streets on the long walk home from school, weaving between crowds while music fills his heart the whole way.
Across generations, the women in one family pass down the art of quilting — from a seven-year-old girl sold away from her parents who sewed secret maps to freedom, to daughters who carried her knowledge through segregation and into the fight for literacy.
A young girl, her waitress mother, and her grandma save every spare coin in a big jar, hoping to finally buy a comfortable chair after a fire destroyed their old furniture.
A girl from the Muscogee Creek Nation dreams of jingle dancing at the next powwow, but her dress has no jingles — so she turns to the women in her family and community to borrow theirs.
A young girl is separated from her mother at the last moment and must sail to America alone, only to discover the address for her family in New York has smudged into illegible ink.
A bricklayer works hard every day building the city, while his son works hard at school and plays at molding tiny clay bricks, until one Saturday his father surprises him with something built just for their family.
A picture-book biography traces Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s path from a childhood in the segregated South to becoming a minister and civil rights leader, told through his own powerful words.
A skilled quiltmaker refuses to make a quilt for a rich, unhappy king unless he gives away everything he owns — and the more he gives, the happier he becomes.
Two children prepare for el Día de los Muertos, making sugar skulls and special bread, then scatter marigold petals to guide their ancestors home for a night of singing, dancing, and remembering.
