Little Read Lakeshore

Hope College’s Little Read Lakeshore is an annual, month-long community-wide reading program that creates and fosters a culture in which reading matters to children, families and those who support, advocate for and work with children.

Little Read Lakeshore takes place every November.

Last Stop on Market Street

Matt de la Peña

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty — and fun — in their routine and the world around them. This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the wonderful perspective only grandparent and grandchild can share, and comes to life through Matt de la Pena’s vibrant text and Christian Robinson’s radiant illustrations.

Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
A #1 New York Times Bestseller

Find the Book

A woman reading a picture book to a group of children

Previous Books

2021: Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
by Kevin Noble Maillard

Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.

Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.
2020: Galápagos Girl/Galapagueña
By Marsha Diane Arnold | Illustrated by Angela Domínguez

For Valentina, living on the Galápagos islands means spending her days outside, observing the natural world around her. She greets sea lions splashing on the shore, scampers over lava rocks with Sally-lightfoot crabs, and swims with manta rays. She is a Galápagos girl, and there is no other place she’d rather be!

But this wondrous world is fragile, and when Valentina learns her wild companions are under threat, she vows to help protect them and the islands.

Whimsical illustrations by Pura Belpré Honoree Angela Dominguez transport readers to the unique Galápagos islands, which shelter a number of diverse plant and animal species that can be found nowhere else on the planet. Come discover this beautiful world with Valentina and her animal friends!
Find the Book
2019: The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!
by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Available in both English and Spanish

La Paz is a happy, but noisy village. A little peace and quiet would make it just right. So the villagers elect the bossy Don Pepe as their mayor. Before long, singing of any kind is outlawed. Even the teakettle is afraid to whistle! But there is one noisy rooster who doesn't give two mangos about this mayor's silly rules. Instead, he does what roosters were born to do. He sings: "Kee-kee-ree-KEE!"Find the Book
2018: Blackout
John Rocco

One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, "Mommm!" His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can't work on her computer, and Dad can't finish cooking dinner. What's a family to do? Using a combination of panels and full bleed illustrations that move from color to black-and-white and back to color, John Rocco shows that if we are willing to put our cares aside for a while, there is party potential in a summer blackout.
2017: A Place Where Sunflowers Grow
Amy Lee-Tai

Under the harsh summer sun, Mari’s art class has begun. But it’s hard to think of anything to draw in a place where nothing beautiful grows — especially a place like Topaz, the internment camp where Mari’s family and thousands of other Japanese Americans have been sent to live during World War II. Somehow, glimmers of hope begin to surface — in the eyes of a kindly art teacher, in the tender words of Mari’s parents, and in the smile of a new friend. Amy Lee-Tai’s sensitive prose and Felicia Hoshino’s stunning mixed-media images show that hope can survive alongside even the harshest injustice.
2016: I’m New Here
Anne Sibley O'Brien

Three students are immigrants from Guatemala, Korea, and Somalia and have trouble speaking, writing, and sharing ideas in English in their new American elementary school. Through self-determination and with encouragement from their peers and teachers, the students learn to feel confident and comfortable in their new school without losing a sense of their home country, language, and identity.
2015: Tuesday Tucks Me In
Luis Carlos Montalván and Brett Witter

As narrated by Tuesday, Tuesday Tucks Me In is a day in the life of this service dog extraordinaire and tail-wagging ambassador for all things positive and uplifting in the world. The book takes us through a typical day of adventures, starting with Tuesday waking Luis in the morning and greeting him with dog breath in the face, and then ending with Tuesday cuddling up to Luis on their bed, the last moment they spend together before sleep.

About the Program

The Little Read Lakeshore program brings together young readers and their families, along with other adults invested in the literacy lives of children, around one book for the purposes of reading, discussing and exploring the humanities themes of the book. We actively work to offer a wide variety of programming during our focus month that will appeal to a diverse population and that will attract children, families and community members. Main events and book discussions take place in a variety of spaces and locations and are planned to engage the chosen book and its topics from a variety of perspectives, experiences and angles, including not only lectures by engaging speakers, but also featuring film, food, music and art.

The Little Read Lakeshore also collaborates with area preschool and elementary schools along with the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District and Allegan Intermediate School District to engage students in the reading and discussing of the chosen book in classroom settings. We provide participating schools with a unique opportunity to interact with a world-renowned author and/or participate with guest speakers and performers to better understand the book and its humanities-based topics and themes. Specifically, the goal of our work with area schools is to promote and support the literate lives of young readers.