Last Stop on Market Street

Last Stop on Market Street

Author: Matt De La Pena
Illustrator: Christian Robinson
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Awards: Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal
Grade: PK-2

CJ and his grandma are waiting outside in the rain for the bus to come pick them up after church. CJ would ask different questions as they waited for the bus like, why is it raining and why they did not have a car? On the bus, he asked his grandma why they were going to a place after church? He also asked why the man on the bus was blind. On the bus, he heard a musician play music and enjoyed seeing his surroundings. When they got off the bus, they were in a ghetto neighborhood where the walls had graffiti on them but yet the grandma saw beauty in them. They walked to a soup kitchen where they helped people out and CJ enjoyed it.

I would use this in my classroom to have in my library because of the quality of the work. I would read this to children between the grades of PK and second grade. I would not use this for a particular unit but would use it to just read to students for fun.

Frog and Toad Together

Frog and Toad Together

Author/Illustrator:  Arnold Lobel

Genre: Fantasy

Awards: Newbery Medal

Grade: 1-3

This chapter book is filled with short stories about a Frog and a Toad. The first chapter talks about a list frog made to remind him of all the things he had to do. When he lost the list, he was upset and did not remember all the things he had to do. Toad told him to go to sleep so he wrote that on the ground and crossed it out with a stick and fell asleep. The second chapter is about Frog planting seeds for a garden. He is very impatient and does everything he can to make the plants grow. The third chapter is about Frog and Toad eating cookies. They kept eating so many cookies and could not stop! After they gave up, they put the cookies outside for the birds to eat. The fourth chapter was about Toad and Frog going on adventures to see if they were brave. The final chapter was about a dream Toad had that made Frog look so small as he was on stage. When he woke up, Frog was right there and they spent the day together. 

This book has a lot of humor in it. When children read it, they will realize that some of the things they do together are pretty funny. I would definitely use this in my classroom because I believe my students would enjoy reading it. I could read this book to children in Kindergarten as well, but it would be more appropriate for students in grades first through third. I would probably not use it for a particular lesson, but instead, would have this book in my classroom library or might assign it to a particular group of students who I know would enjoy it.