Curtis, Christopher Paul. (1999). Bud, Not Buddy. New York, New York: Dell Yearling.
Brief Annotation: This book takes place in Flint and Grand Rapids, Michigan during the depression. Bud, "not Buddy," is a ten year old boy who has lived in an orphanage or in foster homes since his mom died when he was six. His only true possessions are some rocks with towns and dates on them, some flyers advertising a jazz band, a picture of his mother as a girl, his blanket, and the stories his mother told him. He also keeps a list in his head of "Rules and things for having a funner life and making a better liar out of yourself" based on his experiences in the orphanage and foster homes. After running away from an abusive foster family, he decides to try to find his father, who he decides must be the Herman E. Calloway described in the jazz band flyers. Bud makes it to Grand Rapids, where Calloway lives, with the help of a friendly railway porter. He becomes friends with Calloway's band, although not with the caustic Mr. Calloway, who denies being the boy's father. After finding the rocks Bud carries, Calloway realizes that Bud's mother was his own lost daughter, and Bud finds a grandfather as well as a family of sorts among the jazz band musicians.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 4-7
Readers who will like this: Kids who like music, kids interested in history, kids who want to understand about homelessness or being an orphan
Response/Rating (1-4): 4. Bud is an interesting, flawed character who is easy to identify with despite the fact that he lives through a radically different historical period. The book is both humorous and sad, and does a wonderful job of describing life during the Great Depression.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What do you know about the Great Depression?
Reading Strategies Connection: I think that a literature map (Yopp and Yopp, p. 62-66) would be a good activity to help children organize their thoughts and responses as they read this book, which is interesting on many levels; Bud's emotions, his interactions with other characters, the reader's understanding of the historical background of the story, and the motivations and reactions of the other characters in the story. I would suggest that the students make categories related to "setting," "themes," "Bud," and "other characters," and share their responses several times during the course of the reading so that they can see how their responses change as their understanding of the historical period and characters changes during the course of the book. The class responses could be posted on a large sheet in the classroom so that students could keep track of how their responses have developed throughout the reading of the book.
Brief Annotation: This book takes place in Flint and Grand Rapids, Michigan during the depression. Bud, "not Buddy," is a ten year old boy who has lived in an orphanage or in foster homes since his mom died when he was six. His only true possessions are some rocks with towns and dates on them, some flyers advertising a jazz band, a picture of his mother as a girl, his blanket, and the stories his mother told him. He also keeps a list in his head of "Rules and things for having a funner life and making a better liar out of yourself" based on his experiences in the orphanage and foster homes. After running away from an abusive foster family, he decides to try to find his father, who he decides must be the Herman E. Calloway described in the jazz band flyers. Bud makes it to Grand Rapids, where Calloway lives, with the help of a friendly railway porter. He becomes friends with Calloway's band, although not with the caustic Mr. Calloway, who denies being the boy's father. After finding the rocks Bud carries, Calloway realizes that Bud's mother was his own lost daughter, and Bud finds a grandfather as well as a family of sorts among the jazz band musicians.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 4-7
Readers who will like this: Kids who like music, kids interested in history, kids who want to understand about homelessness or being an orphan
Response/Rating (1-4): 4. Bud is an interesting, flawed character who is easy to identify with despite the fact that he lives through a radically different historical period. The book is both humorous and sad, and does a wonderful job of describing life during the Great Depression.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What do you know about the Great Depression?
Reading Strategies Connection: I think that a literature map (Yopp and Yopp, p. 62-66) would be a good activity to help children organize their thoughts and responses as they read this book, which is interesting on many levels; Bud's emotions, his interactions with other characters, the reader's understanding of the historical background of the story, and the motivations and reactions of the other characters in the story. I would suggest that the students make categories related to "setting," "themes," "Bud," and "other characters," and share their responses several times during the course of the reading so that they can see how their responses change as their understanding of the historical period and characters changes during the course of the book. The class responses could be posted on a large sheet in the classroom so that students could keep track of how their responses have developed throughout the reading of the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment