Best-selling Author Matt de la Peña Meets With 2nd Grade Bilingual Students

Disponible en: Español

Matt de la Peña, author of Last Stop on Market Street, visited with select Aldine ISD second-grade students at the M.O. Campbell Educational Center on Monday, May 13, for the release of his latest book, The Perfect Place/El lugar perfecto.

The AISD Multilingual Services Department sponsored the event with the district’s Media Services Department and Blue Willow Bookshop.

Selected second-grade bilingual students listened to De la Peña share about his life, like how his parents moved from Mexico to the U.S., where he was born. He grew up in a border city in Southern California. De la Peña engaged students by asking them questions and relating them to shared experiences or memories from their families. He also talked about the variety of books he has written, earning sounds of recognition from the students. He shared images of his family and himself as a star high school basketball player who earned a full scholarship to college, becoming the first in his family to do so.

As his discussion moved toward his latest picture book, The Perfect Place/El lugar perfecto, he asked students if they knew the difference between a novel or short story and a picture book. Several students raised their hands, eager to answer. While he didn’t read the new book to the students, he did go through several pages showing them how to read a picture book, such as seeing the details in the illustrations that add to the storytelling. De la Peña also revealed how his upbringing as a Mexican immigrant influences his stories and images.

After the presentation, De la Peña answered questions from students.

Before returning to their campuses, students, thanks to Blue Willow Bookshop, picked up a free, autographed book for their home library in the language of their choice — English or Spanish.