Presenters:

Natalya Shayakhmetova, Jazmin Sanchez, Becky

Broussard, Alison Carlson, Valorie Seger
Matt De La Pena Newbery Award Speech for Last
Stop on Market Street, 2016

Newbery award clip for

quote
Matt De La Pena
-bestseller for New York Times

-Newbery Medal-winning author

-six young adult novels and four picture books

-One of his books was made into a major motion picture

which starred famous actors such as Ludacris and Nick
Cannon

-Matt received his MFA in San Diego State and his

bachelor’s from the University of Pacific

-Currently living in Brooklyn, New York, where he

“teaches creative writing and visits high schools/colleges
throughout the country”.

-“In 2016 he was awarded the NCTE Intellectual Freedom

Award.”

-First Hispanic to win a Newbery Award.

http://mattdelapena.com/bio/
 Summary of the book
On Sundays, CJ and his Nana ride the bus across town to their stop on
Market Street. But today, CJ’s not happy about it. Today, he’s
wondering out loud why they have to wait in the rain and why they
don’t have a car like his other friends. But it’s Nana who opens young
CJ’s eyes and shows him the real beauty in the world around them. The
spirit of the bustling city,the music in everyday life, and the magic of
their often overlooked neighbors
 Literary Criticism/Reviews
“Last Stop on Market Street is a fine story, a positive story, and now an award-winning story. There is little
dissension in online discussions about those points. But whether this picture book is ‘marked by conspicuous
excellence’, whether it is the cream of the crop in 2016, and whether it should have outstripped well-crafted
novels remain questions not even Nana could answer”.
- Nancy Lohr (June 7, 2016)

“Last Stop on Market Street is a lovely, warm picture book, with strong and commendable themes of
intergenerational friendship, building community, and finding beauty in unlikely places”.
- Martha V. Parravan (September 21, 2015)

“Last Stop on Market Street provides a gentle twist, letting readers in on the secret Nana and CJ have known all
along: They’re on the way to help others who have even less. But it’s also the warmth of their intergenerational
relationship that will make this book so satisfying, for both young readers and the adults sharing it with them”.
Linda Sue Park (January 16, 2015)
 De La Peña says the book is not about race. It has
a simple lesson:

“I will always write about kids growing up with

less. My own experience with poverty is the single
most defining piece of my childhood. If my
stories create empathy, great. But that’s not
exactly what I’m after. I just think the lives of
kids growing up in difficult circumstances are
beautiful and worthy, too. Truth is, these kids
start the race of life way behind the pack. For
me, the most interesting journey to follow is the
kid who’s fighting to catch up. Even if he never
gets there, his story is still so valid to me. Class
Author: is definitely the unspoken part of the diversity
Matt De La Pena equation.”

**Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal

**A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
**A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

2016 Newberry
**A #1 New York Times Bestseller
Four Starred Reviews

Medal Winner
Finalist for the 2014 E.B. White Read-aloud Book Award
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Winter 2014-2015 Kids’ Indie Next Pick

http://mattdelapena.com/books/l
ast-stop-on-market-street/
Major Theme:

finding beauty in unlikely

places
 Teacher Interview

Teacher: Tanya Hampton

Grade: Has been teaching a kindergarten/first grade combo class for the last two years.

Experience: Has been a teacher for 12 years. Obtained her bachelor’s degree at Texas

University. She has taught multiple grades ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. Her

favorite grade to teach has been second grade, which she taught for eight years. She has taught

in Texas, Arkansa, Missouri, and California.

 Incorporating
Last Stop on Market
Street...
In the classroom
★ English Language Arts
Character Traits
Book Report
Vocabulary
Story Analysis

★ Social Skills
Thankful
Gratitude
Respect

★ Visual Arts
Coloring Pages
Replica of Bus

“I would use this book to teach my students about

compassion, gratitude, and respect.” Tanya Hampton
 Discussion Questions

1. This book is about finding beauty in unexpected places. What do you

think it means for something to be beautiful? How would you define
beauty, and can beauty be deeper and inward rather than just
outward appearances? How and why?
 Discussion Questions

2. Being grateful for what you have is not always easy. How
does this book demonstrate that it is okay to be grateful for
what you have even if others have more or less than you. How
would you discuss this with your students in the classroom?
 Discussion Questions

3. How can this book be used as a way to encourage children to

recognize and appreciate differences and diversity in people?
 Discussion Questions

4. This story has been criticized by some as only applying to

one race/ethnicity. How is this true/untrue? How can it be used
in a classroom full of diversity?
 Discussion Questions
5. This book is one of only two picture books to have won the
Newbery Award (as opposed to the Caldecott award). Do you
think picture books fit into the same category for the Newbery
and should they be in the running for the award? What do you
think is different about this book that made it win?
 Discussion Questions
6. This book teaches the lesson that not everyone has the same
things, and we need to recognize and appreciate that, help
others, and find beauty in everyday life. Are these appropriate
lessons to teach in a classroom? Why or why not?
 Resources
Lohr, Nancy. BJU Press. “2016 Newbery Award Winner Book Review”. Last Stop on Market Street. 7 June 2016. www.bjupress.
com/resources/christian-school/2016-last-stop-on-market-street

“Matt De La Peña.” Author, Speaker, www.mattdelapena.com/.

Park Sue, Linda. New York Times. Last Stop on Market Street. 16 January 2015

Parravan, Martha V. “Last Stop on Market Street.” The Horn Book, 22 Sept. 2015, www.hbook.com/2015/09/callingcaldecott/last-
stop-on-market-street/.

Peña Matt De la, and Christian Robinson. Last Stop on Market Street. Puffin, 2017.

“Reading Teacher's Backpack.” Teachers Pay Teachers, www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Reading-Teachers

Backpack?aref=5ta7t05t.
THE END