Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Bibliography
Curtis, C. (2002) Bud, Not Buddy. New York: Yearling. (Original work published in 1999). ISBN: 0-440-41328-1
Summary
Bud Caldwell may only be ten years old, but he’s learned a lifetime of lessons about how to survive in a world that often isn’t fair. The Depression wasn’t an easy time for anyone growing up; but add that to being black and your mother dying at age six, and you find out what hard times are real fast. But Bud hasn’t lost hope of a better life or finding his father and now he is finally old enough to follow the clues his mother has left behind.
My Impression
Bud’s emotional journey is far longer than the physical one that takes place in the story. He is a very resourceful and polite young man in spite of the harsh hand life has dealt him. He doesn’t always make the wisest choices but you can’t help but root for Bud as he encounters tough situations along the way on his quest to find his father. The author reveals Bud’s world through details and language, allowing the reader to experience Bud's constant struggle of survival, his courage, and the hope he refuses to lose sight of by keeping his mother’s memory alive.
Reviews
Library Journal
Gr 4-7-Motherless Bud shares his amusingly astute rules of life as he hits the road to find the jazz musician he believes is his father. A medley of characters brings Depression-era Michigan to life. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. Bud, 10, is on the run from the orphanage and from yet another mean foster family. His mother died when he was 6, and he wants to find his father. Set in Michigan during the Great Depression, this is an Oliver Twist kind of foundling story, but it's told with affectionate comedy, like the first part of Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham (1995). On his journey, Bud finds danger and violence (most of it treated as farce), but more often, he finds kindness--in the food line, in the library, in the Hooverville squatter camp, on the road--until he discovers who he is and where he belongs. Told in the boy's naive, desperate voice, with lots of examples of his survival tactics ("Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself"), this will make a great read-aloud. --Hazel Rochman
Publishers Weekly
A 10-year-old boy in Depression-era Michigan sets out to find the man he believes to be his father. "While the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically depicted, Curtis imbues them with an aura of hope, and he makes readers laugh even when he sets up the most daunting scenarios," said PW in our Best Books citation. Ages 9-12. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Suggested Activities
Bud, Not Buddy could simply be used as a read aloud as it has distinctive story language which is sure to encourage lively discussion. There are definitely moments that lend to laughter and others that are quite touching.
At one point of the story, the Librarian shows Bud how to use an atlas and determine the distances between cities. Using the cities and states written on the rocks in the story, students could practice map and math skills to ascertain the miles between points and the time it would take to reach each destination.
The story describes instruments of the boys in Calloway’s band and Bud’s fascination with the music they produced. This book could be used as an introduction to research on instruments and or music of the time period.
