At the End of the Line: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena

C. J. STEPPED THROUGH THE CHURCH DOOR, SKIPPING DOWN THE STEPS.

THE OUTSIDE SMELLED LIKE FREEDOM.

It's Sunday, and church is finally over, but C. J. is not happy. For one thing, it's raining. For another, he sees his friends heading home in their nice dry cars to play for the rest of the day.

"HOW COME I GOTTA WAIT FOR THE BUS IN ALL THIS WET?" HE GRUMBLES.

"TREES GET THIRSTY, TOO," SAID NANA.

"HOW COME WE DON'T HAVE A CAR?" CONTINUES C.J.

But Nana's got an answer for that one, too. She points out that he's got a bus that breathes fire like a dragon, with Mr. Dennis the driver who can magically pull coins from his ears. C. J. pockets the coin, but he is still not mollified. Across the aisle from his seat he sees a boy listening to his iPod, and grumbles aloud that he sure wishes he had his own music.

"WHAT FOR?" SAYS NANA. "YOU GOT THE REAL THING SITTIN' ACROSS FROM YOU."

And the guy with the guitar sitting nearby obliges by serenading the passengers. C.J. closes his eyes to listen like the blind man behind him, and even the kids take out their earbuds to listen and feel that live music magic. Everyone, even Sunglass Man and Tattoo Guy, applauds.

Then they are there. The driver calls the last stop on the route.

C. J. and Nana get off and hurry through the rain and through a drab door where they find soggy homeless people waiting hopefully for them to serve dinner, and C. J. loses a little of his dark mood, seeing how grateful everyone is. Then it's time for the bus ride home.

Outside, Market Street is a sad sight, dingy gray walls, peeling paint. Still grumpy, C.J. wonders aloud ...

"HOW COME IT'S ALWAYS SO DIRTY OVER HERE?"

"SOMETIMES, WHEN YOU'RE SURROUNDED BY DIRT, C. J." NANA SAYS, "YOU'RE A BETTER WITNESS FOR WHAT'S BEAUTIFUL."

And as if the sky heard Nana, C.J. looks up to see a bright rainbow over Market Street, in Matt De La Pena's 2016 Newbery Award-winning Last Stop on Market Street (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2015). From his grandmother's gentle premise that poor in the pocketbook is not the same as poor in spirit, C. J.'s eyes are opened to the good around him.

Christian Robinson's simple, stylized illustrations, a variety of human figures shown mostly in profile, are balanced by the myriad of shapes and colors in the urban scene surrounding them, De La Pena's book swept the awards for the year, being named a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book, the 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, becoming a New York Times best seller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2015, and The Huffington Post's Best Overall Picture Book of 2015. And readers will agree with C.J as he says as he boards the bus, "I'm glad we came."

Strangers on the Train: Milo Imagines The World by Matt de la Pena

Milo's husky big sister hurries him onto the subway, eager to get back to taking a selfie and whatever else she is doing on her phone.

Milo looks around at the other passengers, all seemingly absorbed with their thoughts--a bored-looking businessman with briefcase, a young woman in wedding gown, clutching flowers, a boy about his age dressed in a suit and tie, a whiskery guy in slipons and socks frowning over his newspaper. The Sunday subway ride seems to last forever.

Milo's feelings are bouncing around inside him like a well-shaken soda....

Excitement on top of worry, on top of confusion, on top of love...

To stop the feeling, Milo begins to draw in his notebook and wonder about the other people on the train. As the scruffy whiskered guy gets up and rings the bell, Milo pictures him at home with lots of cats and rats as company. He shows the bride going to her wedding and perhaps a trip in a hot-air balloon, and he pictures the boy in the coat and tie entering a castle, complete with drawbridge, butler, and chef with crustless finger sandwiches for him. Milo tugs as his sister to show her his pictures, but she gives him a quick look and elbows him away.

Who hasn't wondered about the lives of nearbypassengers on a plane or subway? But the subjects of Milo's drawings don't exactly follow the lives he creates for them.

When the wedding-dressed woman strides off the train, a band of street performers launches into "Here Comes the Bride" and everyone on the platform cheers.

Milo didn't see that one coming. He looks at the dressed up boy and the boy looks back.

They lock eyes for a few long seconds.

Milo is surprised when the boy and his dad get off at the same stop as Milo's.

He is even more surprised when the boy joins the long line to pass through the metal detector.

Maybe it's not so easy to know what another person's real life is like from looking at them, Milo muses.

And both boys enter a room where women prisoners are meeting with their families, in Matt de la Pena's just published Milo Imagines the World (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2021), where Milo shows his mom the picture he drew just for her, a picture of the whole family together on their front steps, a picture he still wants to be true. In this poignant family story, author Matt de la Pena is again joined by artist Christian Robinson, who illustrated their Caldecott Honor Medal book, Last Stop on Market Street (read review Last Stop on Market Street.)

"Pictures brimming with activity, an endearing main character, and threads for thinking about art, families, and what we see in others make this a book that will hold up to many readings," says School Library Journal.

The Envelope, Please! ALA Youth Media Awards Announced

The American Library Association has revealed their book and media winners for 2016.

Taking the prestigious John Newbery Award for the most outstanding contribution for children's literature was Matt de la Pena, for Last Stop on Market Street (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2015). Pena becomes the first Hispanic author to win this award.

Newbery Honor Awards go to Kimberly Brubaker Bradley for The War that Saved My Life (Dial Books, 2015) (see my review here), Roller Girl, (Dial Books 2015) by Victoria Jamieson, and Echo (Scholastic Press, 2015) by Pam Munoz Ryan.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded for the best illustrated book published in the United States. Winning the 2016 Caldecott for Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (Little, Brown and Company, 2015), the story of the search for the toy bear who became famous as "Winnie-The-Pooh," is illustrator Sophie Blackall. The author was Lindsay Mattick.

Caldecott Honor Medals went to Trombone Shorty(Abrams Books, 2015), illustrated by Bryan Collier and authored by Troy Andrews; Waiting (Greenwillow Books, 2015) written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes, (see my review here); Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement (Candlewick Press, 2015), illustrated by Ekua Holmes and written by Carole Boston Weatherford; and the Newbery winner, Last Stop on Market Street (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2015), illustrated by Christian Robinson.

The 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Award, recognizing an African American author, went to Rita Williams-Garcia for Gone Crazy in Alabama (Harper-Collins, 2015) (see my review here). Illustrator Bryan Collier also took the King Illustrator Award for his work on Trombone Shorty (Abrams Books, 2015). The Coretta Scott King New Talent Author Award went to Ronald L. Smith for Hoodoo (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2015) (see my review here).

The Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult literature was won by Laura Ruby for Bone Gap (Balzer & Bray, 2015).

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for life achievement went to Caldecott Award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Pinkney.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book went to David Adler's Don't Throw It to Mo! (Mo Jackson) (Penguin Young Readers, 2015),illustrated by Sam Ricks.

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for children's video went to Weston Woods Studio for its adaptation of Mo Willems' This Is NOT A Good Idea. (See my review of the book here).

Read the complete list of ALA's awards and winners here.

Though April Showers May Come Your Way...: Rain by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson

It's true! April showers bring May flowers. But it is also true that not everybody appreciates the possibilities of precipitation! Some people grumble when it rumbles and rant when it rains.

"Nasty galoshes!

Blasted overcoat!"

Two next-door neighbors clearly have different reactions to rain.

One, a crusty old curmudgeon, finds rain gear, puddles, and raindrops reprehensible. The other, an ebullient tot, cheerfully dons his froggy rain hat and overshoes and hops outside to jump with joy in the puddles.

As the two make their way outside onto the sidewalk, the old guy grumps his way down the street, stabbing at the sky with his black umbrella, while the boy greets wet passersby with a peppy Ribbit! The old gent grouses at the headlines of his soggy newspaper, while the little boy splashes with a happy "hoppy hop," past the shops on the street. Both turn into the appropriately named Rain or Shine Cafe, where the cranky old guy calls for coffee--BLACK--to suit his mood. The boy requests cookies and cocoa!

YUM!

Some folks are ever the sourpuss pessimists and some are always on the sunny side of street. Shall the twain never meet?

Not so, in the just-published new board book edition of Linda Ashman's Rain! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017), in which the grumpus forgets his soggy cap in the cafe and the boy races out to return it. This odd couple come together again in a rainy day raprochement in which each one tries on a different hat, a cookie is shared, and it looks like some sunny days are ahead for both of them. With the charming metro-style illustrations from the Caldecott-winning artist (for Last Stop on Market Street) Christian Robinson setting the cityscape stage, a little spring rain is just a chance to make a new friend. "Altogether delightful," cheerily croaked Kirkus in their starred review for the original 2013 edition.

Back to School: School's First Day At School by Adam Rex

That summer they dug up the big field and poured the foundation and sat brick on to of brick until they'd built a school.

A sign above the door read FREDERICK DOUGLASS ELEMENTARY. That's a good name for me, thought the school.

But a new school is like a first-time student. Unschooled. Clueless.

A nice man named Janitor comes every day throughout the summer to paint and polish up the inside, and sometimes Janitor tries to tell School about what is about to happen, but School can't help being nervous about that first day.

Who knew a school has first-day fears, too?

In fresh paint and varnish, School is all dressed up for opening day, just like his students. But all does not go perfectly. School experiences an unexpected fire drill, and the students who have just settled in their new desks have to hustle out and stand on the playground. And as they file back in, School hears some conversations that give him a sick feeling way down in his basement.

Some older students gathered by the back fence and showed their bored faces.

"This place stinks," said one.

School sagged a little.

"I don't like school," says one kid.

Maybe it doesn't like you either, thinks School.

But soon the students are all settling down with their teachers, and Janitor gets to take a much-needed break.

School tunes in to what is going on down in the Kindergarten, where Aiden, Max, Bella, Emma, and Chloe sit together on the circle time rug and learn all about shapes. There's that quiet hum of a school where brains are busy learning new things, and a sense of peace settles over School. It's been a good day, all in all, with more to come, and School knows he's in the right place after all.

Adam Rex's latest, School's First Day of School (Roaring Brook Press, 2016), is a different sort of first-day story, seen from the point of view of a brand-new school, a newbie who, like the students, doesn't quite know what to going to happen. Kids will chuckle at the usual events, a sudden fruit-basket-turnover as an unexpected fire drill sends everyone back outside, one boy giggles so hard that he squirts milk all over School's pristine and polished lunchroom floor. (I'm covered with nose milk, thinks School), and drawings get thumb-tacked to his perfectly painted walls (Ouch!). Building on Rex's polished storytelling, Caldecott-winning artist, (for Last Stop on Market Street) Christian Robinson, adds tidy American primitive collage and acrylic illustrations with wide-angle and up-close looks at the first day of school and--of School himself.

Young students will never look at their schools in quite the same way again. An essential purchase for back-to-school reading. As Publishers Weekly puts it, "Every so often, a book comes along with a premise so perfect, it’s hard to believe it hasn’t been done before; this is one of those books."

Wishing Well! Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Pena

Today Carmela awoke to candles in her pancakes. Her mom told her, "Go ahead, mija, make a wish."

But Carmela's wish had already come true. She was finally old enough to go with her big brother.

Scootering along behind her brother, Carmela follows past the bus stop and the home improvement store, where her dad used to wait for someone to hire him to work. She spots a seeded dandelion and blows the fluffy floaters away.

"You're supposed to make a wish. Everyone knows that." her brother grouches.

Her brother clearly wishes that she were still too little to go with him, but Carmela just jingles her bracelet to annoy him a little. She holds onto her dandelion stem as she helps her brother wash their clothes at the laundromat, and thinks about her wish. Candy is her first thought, but then she imagines her mother sleeping in one of the many beds in the fancy hotel where she works. It's hard to choose just one best wish. And then, as her brother buys groceries at the bodega, she thinks about her father...

... her dad getting his papers fixed so he could be home.

But then Carmela's scooter wrecks, and her dandelion is crushed. What about her wish?

But her big brother relents and takes her to a field beside the ocean where dandelion parachutes fill the air and float in the wind over the sea.

"Now make your wish!" he says.

Her brother tells her that her wish won't come true if she tells it, and Carmela happily holds it in her heart, in Matt de la Pena's latest picture book, Carmela Full of Wishes (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2018). Working with the artist Christian Robinson, who won a Caldecott Award along with De la Pena's Newbery Medal in their Last Stop on Market Street (review here), this latest joint effort is a poignant and thoughtful story with restrained but eloquent style. Says School Library Journal, “Carmela’s journey of wishing, waiting, and wanting resonates on many levels."

That's the Glory of... LOVE by Matt De La Pena and Loren Long

In the beginning there is light and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed,

And the sound of their voices is love.

There are many ways to love, but they all begin with family, with parent and child, in Matt De La Pena's newest picture book, Love (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2018), illustrated lovingly by noted Caldecott artist Loren Long.

De La Pena, 2016 Newbery Award winner for Last Stop on Market Street, writes about love from the first experiences of the soft, warm smell of the crib. But new experiences come fast--the harsh sound of the fire alarm and the first visit to the park, with the big kids shoving past to climb up the slides. Step by step, mastery comes.

Soon you are running among them, and the echo of your laughter is love.

There are scary times when everyone gathers around the television set and speaks in low voices, sad times when they grieve the loss of one of them, and loud times when people laugh about fun times that came before.

There is love in the made-up stories your uncles tell.

And the man in rags outside the subway steps plays love notes that lift into the sky like tiny beacons of light.

Author De La Pena counts the many ways of love in a family in glad times and sad times, the power of love that enables the child to grow up and leave to find his own way in the world.

But it won't be luck you live with, because you'll have love.

It's another happy collaboration for Newbery Award author De La Pena, this time with the noted artist Loren Long, whose human figures and landscapes are both intimate and monumental in their impact. Says Kirkus Reviews, “From the moment prose and art appear in the opening spread, de la Peña and Long usher readers into a patient, pensive meditation on love. . . . Timely, timeless, and utterly necessary.”