Bud, Not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy

Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic Inc. 1999

Bud, Not Buddy tells the story of a young boy who lives in an orphanage because he has lost his mother. He uses his observations of her from when he was younger to venture out into the world and find who he believes to be his father. Through some troubled waters and new friends, Bud finds his family - just not who he originally set out to find.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I think it would be a great historical fiction novel to use in the upper elementary classroom. Bud is a brave young boy who many children will like. The story brings in elements of the time period and thus will give students something to work off of and research. They can look at the afterward from the author to learn about how the characters came to be to help them distinguish between fact and fiction. This book provides a great way to explain to children how many authors create historical fiction pieces. They may base characters off of people they know or research the time period in which they want to write about. A novel like this can create great discussions for students about this genre.