The Junk Box

Caldecott Honoree Zeke Peña's picture book classic in the making, for fans of Last Stop on Market Street and The Yellow Bus, is an ode to empathy, gratitude, and rediscovering joy—and oneself—in unexpected places, and celebrates the wonder of a flea market. An ordinary box can unlock extraordinary imagination.

One kid's junk is another kid's treasure.

As the sun rises over a border town, a battered box destined for the junkyard tumbles off a truck . . . and is surprised to land in a bustling flea market. In the past, the box was many things—a lampstand, a wrestling ring, and even a fútbol goal—but eventually it forgot what it truly was. Surrounded by the music of the flea market, the box sees treasures on display and hopes it, too, can be someone’s treasure.

Passed from booth to booth, the box tries—and fails—to find its place . . . wondering all the while if it will ever be more than someone’s forgotten trash. But in this place where families make magic with whatever they have, nothing is “junk” for long. When a young girl gives the box a curious knock, it answers back with a heartbeat of its own.