Last Stop on Market Street

This iconographic-animated adaptation of the 2016 Newbery, Caldecott Honor, and Coretta Scott King Honor picture book by author Matt de la Peña and illustrator Christian Robinson features simply-drawn dot-eyed characters. The story follows young CJ and his spirited grandmother as they make their weekly post-church Sunday pilgrimage across town on the bus. Young CJ wonders why they don't have a car, while Nana smoothly distracts the boy with observations about thirsty trees, while calling the bus a chariot that “breathes fire”—one that is filled with colorful characters, including a curler-bedecked old lady with butterflies in a jar, and a man with a guitar whose music inspires CJ (“the sound gave him the feeling of magic”). Even as they pass boarded-up windows and witness graffiti on their way to help out at a soup kitchen, Granny offers up some poignant advice to the young man: “Sometimes, when you're surrounded by dirt…you're a better witness for what's beautiful.” Also featuring a read-along option, this sweet slice-of-life tale is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)