I recently read this book as a part of a children's literature class for education students and it was fantastic. For anyone who hasn't read any of Christopher Paul Curtis' books, this one would be a great to start with. The books tells the story of the Watson family and their visit to Grandma's house in Alabama. A family of three children and their parents go through the funny and familiar routines of school, work, friends and the "wool pooh". It has many moments where the reader can completely relate to the characters and it also gives a side to younger readers about the time era in whic the story takes place. I do agree with other reviews that this book could definately be used in an elementary school setting and it gives children a different perspective on the lives of an African-American family in 1963. Also, being from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I can really relate to the Watsons, since they lived in Flint, Michigan. I recommend this book to anyone, especially younger readers and teachers whom might use this in their classrooms. Also, if you like this book, you will also like another book by Curtis called "Bud, Not Buddy."

I am a 5th grade teacher and my students really enjoyed listening to me read this book! In their words, it is realistic and funny! They could really relate to the characters and couldn't wait to hear more!

To begin, we feel that this literary piece is appropriate for 3rd grade and up whether used as a read aloud(lower) or for silent reading(upper). This story can be integrated with Language Arts(Similies, Metaphors, and other literary devices), Social Studies(Depression Era, Geography, Families, Communities), Music Appreciation(Jazz), and Math(Economics). The author of "Bud, Not Buddy" brings about a sensitivity to other cultures and family structures, and develops an appreciation for differences within society. This first person narrative, displays the importance of belonging and the endless fight to meet one's personal needs.
As the reader, one becomes engaged in Bud's adventures, stories, struggles, and victories. After Bud's mother's death, he is lead to search for his biological father; however, this search is interupted by Bud being placed in numerous foster homes. This does stop his desire to find out where he really belongs, but rather encourages it. "Bud, Not Buddy" is a wonderful book to enlighten students about real-world experiences; futhermore, it touches the heart of the reader and stimulates anticipation, compassion for others, and a love for reading.

Bud not buddy is an excellent book. I choose to read this book because it sounded like a very good book. Bud, Not Buddy was a historical fiction novel written by Christopher Paul Curtis. The book's setting takes place during the Great Depression and in many different areas in which Bud takes journeys to find his father. The book talks about his mother who died when he was very young and he has not yet ever known his father but finds out in the end that he actually meets his grandfather.
The people he meets at the end are relevant to the story because they are band members with his grandfather. I would say the themes of this book are determination, courage, and hope. No matter what life throws in Bud's way, he is always focused and determined to find his father. A surprise observation was in the end when you expected the man to be his father but in fact it was his grandfather which was a shock to me as the reader. The plot in the story kept you interested because you always wanted to know if he was going to find his father in the end. There is a lot of figurative language and vocabulary used in the story and Bud's "Rules" provided much laughter during the reading. I think the pacing and tone, as well as the sentence length and structure was appropriate for the grade level that this was set for.
I would recommend this novel to young children who may have never known one of their parents and that they should never give up hope in their search.

Are you looking for a good book award winning book? Well all your searching is over! The book Bud not Buddy is a book by Christopher Paul Curtis author of The Watsons go to Birmingham. Published by Delacorte Press in 1999. It's about a 10 year old boy named Bud Caldwell. He is motherless as he escapes a bad foster home in Flint Michigan in search of his father. His mother never told Bud who his father was , but she gave some clues:five posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band the , Dusky Devastators of the depression! He has an idea that those posters will lead him to his father. Therefore he sets on an unfogettable journey to find his father , Herman E. Calloway. This book is a great book for kids 9-14. Anyone could read this great book by Christopher Paul Curtis about a young boy in search of his father from Grand Rapids. So go get it and enjoy!

If you like funny and realistic fiction you will like this book. This book was about an African American family. There was Momma, Dad, Kenny, Byron, and Joey. They lived in Flint, Michigan. One day it was very cold outside Byron and Kenny had to shovel the driveway, then Byron for no reason kissed the icy cold mirror. Guess what happened. Throughout the book Byron continues to get into even more trouble. Kenny was the younger brother was very smart. Others and even his older brother picked on him. People teased him about his lazy eye. You have to read the book to find out other things that happen to Kenny. Joey was the youngest sister. She was a very sweet girl. Something happens to Joey near the end of the book that really affects Kenny you have to read to find out what the situation was. They end up traveling to Birmingham to see their Grandma Sands. It was very hot in Birmingham. Something scary happens to Kenny. This book talks about what life was like for African Americans in the 1960's. I thought this book was okay. I think it is only okay because there are only a few action parts. Byron was my favorite character, because it was funny how he got into trouble.

In 1963, I was a white kid attending a predominantly black junior high school in Seattle. "The Watson's Go To Birmingham-1963" rings true to what I saw and experienced in those days.

It's true that this story doesn't have much of a plot in the usual sense, but then how many families have lives that are neatly plotted out? Instead we see episodes in the life of nerdish Kenny Watson, his older brother Byron who is always getting into trouble, his little sister "Joey" who is a little angel, their Momma who still has some of the old South in her, and Dad, a loving, but sometimes stern, man.

This is an important piece of historical fiction. It shows an intact African-American family, struggling with many of the same things families of other races were dealing with in those days, however one is given a taste of their fear of racial violence as Momma and Dad plan--and take--their trip into the deep South to visit Grandma Sands during those turbulent times.

This is an important book, but one I can only recommend with reservations. Some of the situations, and more especially some of the crude language used by Byron and his friends, would cause me to give it a PG rating. I think it's unfortunate that some authors of children's books think it's OK to use language that most educators are otherwise discouraging students from using.

This novel, a Newbery Honor book for 1996, consists of two very different parts.

In the lighthearted beginning of the book, Kenny and his quirky family, the Weird Watsons, have a series of funny adventures in their hometown of Flint, Michigan. Kenny's older brother, Byron, provides much of the hilarity, from his sub-zero mirror-kissing fiasco, to his ill-fated attempt to consume an entire bag of stolen cookies. However, some of Byron's stunts cross the line between innocent hi-jinks and juvenile deliquency, and the Watson parents decide to intervene. They arrange a trip to visit awe-inspiring Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama. The Watsons set off in their car, equipped with an Ultra-Glide record player and all the latest tunes.

Until three quarters of the way through the story, the tone remains lighthearted. Shortly after the Watsons arrive in Birmingham, though, Curtis changes gears. The event that causes this rather abrupt shift is the bombing which killed four young girls in a Sunday school class. The story's mood becomes dark as Kenny grapples with the deaths, and the existence of evil in the world.

Although I recognize the importance of including the serious event, I confess that I did not enjoy Curtis's writing as much after the change in tone. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book for its fascinating characters and funny adventures.

As I am going to accompany four of my fourth graders to Christopher Paul Curtis's house to interview him for an article (WOW - what an exciting prospect!), I was very pleased to finally find a biography about him, even if it is just a short picture book. However, the mistakes in the book started with the second sentence and continued throughout the book.

First, the book starts on page five by telling that Curtis is the first African-American ever to win the Newbery Medal - someone might want to check with Virginia Hamilton (whoops, too late - she died earlier this year) and Mildred D. Taylor, both African-American authors who won the Newbery Medal in the 1970's. This misinformation is repeated on page 27.

On page 22, the book says, "Curtis' first book won a Newbery Honor, which the American Library Association gives to just four children's books a year." This is not true - I don't know whether there is an official limit to Newbery Honors in one year, but for the last several years there have been between one and four Newbery Honors per year, and up to five per year in the 1970's (with only two given this year).

The book tells that Curtis worked on Flint's Fisher Body assembly line for 13 years, but gives the impression that this job lasted from 1971 to around 1993 - the author should clarify this.

The bio claims that THE WATSONS "was named one of the year's best books by the Coretta Scott King Foundation." Actually it was named a Coretta Scott King Award "Honor Book," a runner-up for the medal.

The writing is a bit flat in the book - the subject is referred to as "Christopher Paul Curtis" or simply "Curtis" most of the time, even as a child, and occasionally "Christopher," but never "Chris," which is what he generally goes by in everyday life. This makes the book seem much less personal. Page 17 really jumped out at me as being poorly written, and I even had to reread a couple sentences to understand exactly what the author meant to say.

Having done intensive Internet searches about Curtis to prepare for our visit, I recognized a good deal of this book as having come directly out of Internet articles, often word for word, though there are no citations listed. I'm sure there are probably other errors besides the ones I caught - maybe we can ask Curtis while we are in Windsor!

And a last complaint - there is inconsistent use of the possessive form of Curtis in this book. Page 11 says, "But Mr. Curtis's patients were all black people..." which is written the way I learned. But the rest of the time it is written as on page 10 - "Curtis' other grandfather..." and page 18 - "...they went to Curtis' car." Right or wrong, the book could at least be consistent. The author and editor were very careless throughout the book.

On the positive side, there are many nice pictures on every other page through some of the 32-page book (except none on pages 11-21). The book does a nice job telling about Curtis's life and writing, and would be a good introduction to Curtis for young readers. However, the glaring errors in this book would make me very reluctant to purchase other author biographies in this series (Roald Dahl, Gary Paulsen, J. K. Rowling, Maurice Sendak, and Dr. Seuss).