The Watson's go to Birmingham - 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
  
prepared by
Dr. Pam Petty

 
NOTE:  On May 28, 1999 I received the following email from Christopher Paul Curtis:
Christopher Curtis wrote:

Dear Ms. Petty,
My name is Christopher Curtis and I wrote "The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963."  I'm writing to say thank you so much for the beautiful review and unit you wrote about the novel on your web page.  I've seen quite a few treatments and analyses of the book and have to tell you that yours is my favorite.  It's very heartwarming to know that my book touched someone the way it touched you, and very encouraging to know that someone was so in tune with what I feel the book is about. Once again, thank you very, very much.

The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963
(click above to read Horn Book, Book List, and reader reviews of this book on Amazon.com)
                 Christopher Paul Curtis
 
Personal Response to Book
     I was just nearing the end of the second chapter of this book when I was overcome with a need to call my younger sister and begin a series of apologies for the pain and anguish I caused her when we were children.  Tortures ranged from twisted versions of hide-and-go-seek, where my sister could be missing for lengthy periods of time, to having her completely convinced she was adopted. The types of mental cruelty to which I subjected my sister mirrored some of the antics between Byron and Kenneth.  I found myself relating to the ridicule tactics (punk, Poindexter), exclusion techniques (Kenny standing alone waiting for the bus, not wanting Kenny to play basketball), threats ("I'm gonna' jack you up . . . "), and general bullying. The author did a marvelous job of putting me in a ten year old, black boy's mind and, in turn, reminding me of past sins.  I found the humor to be an added bonus that warmed my heart to the characters in the book.
     I felt compassion for Kenny's situations (bullied by his brother, ridiculed for his intelligence, physical challenge of a lazy eye, degree of poverty) and admiration for his acceptance of his circumstances as exemplified in his lack of anger.   I liked the way Kenny called on genies, angels, and even personal "savers" to improve his situation.  To me it showed his unrelenting optimism that he would survive.  I also enjoyed his grasp of reality, although many times it was exaggerated by his child-like perspective.  There were few times when things were just "mildly" one way or another; things were usually happy and secure (sitting with Dad in the car alone) or dramatically intense (Byron bullying Larry Dunn).
     I think Kenny fought many of the demons that most children fight, i.e., acceptance by others, sibling rivalry, trust of adults, good vs. evil, saying things we regret, regretting things we left unsaid.  The author set me up for the fall Kenny would take when he showed me time and again how intently Kenny felt life.  Only a child as sensitive and spiritual as Kenny could have told this story.
     This book works for me because it very cleverly leads me down a path to make the point that violence is personal.  There are no wasted words in this story.  Each episode helps build the case that mothers and fathers love their children, and brothers and sisters love each other even if they sometimes do things that hurt one another. Kenny starts in chapter one and continues throughout the book to try to understand Byron's meanness, selfishness, and reasoning only to have Byron be the one who is able to help Kenny deal with the trauma of the bombing.  The purpose of the trip to Birmingham is to help Byron understand that "time for playing is running out fast . . . the world doesn't have a lot of jokes waiting for him."  Byron doesn't spend much time in Alabama, yet he comes back to Flint having learned that lesson well enough to explain it to Kenny in a powerful way. Byron's character slowly changes from self-serving to that of someone who is able to see past himself and help Kenny as he learns what being a big brother really means.
     This book works for me because it is clever, interspersed with sparkling conversations, reflective of its time in history, honest, and alternately heart-stopping and heart-breaking.  If the author's main intent is to give readers a personal connection to those little girls in Alabama in 1963, I think that objective has been met. Kenny's loss of innocence is symbolic of the scars against society when violence is directed against innocent people.   I will never be able to look at a little girl's black patent shoe without thinking of the one in Kenny's hand he had snatched from the "Wool Pooh."  I think Kenny's last words in this book are particularly prophetic of his future as he tells Joey to "come on in."  A little boy who has had a personal encounter with death, released his spirit to save his sister, grieved her mistaken death, and suffered immeasurable misplaced guilt opens his wounded heart and says, "come on in."  This book works because I still care about that little boy.
 

Curriculum Connections
 
Literary Elements

Characters
Kenny
Byron            
Wilona
Buphead
Rufus
Larry Dunn
Grandma Sands

Plot
An African American family crosses destiny with a church bombing which changes their lives.
 

Theme
Violence is personal.
The importance of family.

Tone
Humorous, non-didactic, suspenseful.

Point of View
First person narrative.

Setting
Flint, Michigan and Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.

Style
Exaggeration, allusion, idioms, humor.

Resource for Literary Elements:  http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis6585/class/litelem.html

Glossary of Literary Terms:  http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm

Allusions found in The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963.

Classroom Connection:
Use the following allusions found in the book to help students gain a better understanding of the 1960 era.  Suggest using the Internet and electronic information sources (cd's) to locate information. Both literary allusions and cultural allusions are included in one list, but could easily be divided into two lists.  Suggest that students locate books mentioned in the book.  Other information sources might include:

Gitter, Michael and Sylvie Anapol.  Do you Remember:  The Book that Takes You Back.  (1996)  Hong Kong:  Chronicle Books.

Allusions found in the book:
Jack Frost (p. 1)
Nanook of the North (p. 5)
Personal Savior (p. 28)
Poindexter
Rolling away the stone (p. 41)
The Miracle Worker (p. 59)
The Magnificent Seven  (p. 79)
wolves (p. 92)
"Straighten Up and Fly Right" (p. 96)
pea knuckle (p. 103)
"Under the Boardwalk"  (p. 117)
"Yakety Yak" (117)
Nat King Cole (117)
Dinah Washington (117)
"Save the Last Dance for Me" (149)
"Big Daddy was a Truck Drivin' Man" (153)
Felix the Cat
Soupy Sales
Beany and Cecil
The Rae Deane Show
Betty Boop
Clutch Cargo
Lawrence Welk Show (p. 126)
et tu, Brute (p. 150)
Scientific Popular (p. 154)
Godzilla (p. 158)
King Kong (p. 158)
Frankenstein (p. 158)
Dracula (p. 158)
Bobo Brazil (p. 158)
Sheik (p. 158)
Bambi (p. 161)
Captain Kangaroo (p. 161)
Wizard of Oz (p. 165)
Winnie-the-Pooh (p. 170)
magic lamp, genie (p. 175)
Bat Fink (p. 196)
Smoky the Bear (p. 199)
The Great Carp Escape (p. 62)
dirty finger sign (p. 19)
"Ready, aim, fire"  (p. 3, 24, 45, 75, 176)
home front (p.93)
South of the Border (p. 93)

Figurative Language found in The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963.


Many cliches, idioms, and examples of figurative language are used throughout the book.  Suggest that students use the following types of resources to understand the literal meaning of the expressions found in the book.

Resources:

Ammer, Christine.  (1992)  Seeing Red or Tickled Pink.  New York:  Penguin.  ISBN:  0-525-93462-6.
_____.  (1989)  It's Raining Cats and Dogs . . .  New York:  Dell.  ISBN:  0-440-20507-7.

Bryson, Bill.  (1990)  Mother Tongue.  New York:  Avon.  ISBN:  0-380-71543-0.

Carothers, Gibson and James Lacey. (1994) Dictionary of Colorful Phrases. New York:  Sterling.
ISBN:  0-8069-4639-3.

Feldman, David. (1989) Who Put the Butter in Butterfly?  New York:  Harper and Row.  ISBN:
0-16-016072-1.

Freeman, Morton S.  (1993)  Even-Steven and Fair and Square.  New York:  Penguin.  ISBN:  0-452-27067-7.

Funk, Charles Earle.  (1955)  Heavens to Betsy.  New York:  Harper and Row.  ISBN:  0-06-091353-3.
_____.  (1948)  Hog on Ice.  New York:  Harper and Row.  ISBN:  0-06-091259-6.
_____.  (1958)  Horse Feathers.  New York:  Harper and Row.  ISBN:  0-06-091352-5.
_____.  (1950)  Thereby Hangs a Tale.  New York:  Harper and Row.

Golick, Margie.  (1987)  Playing with Words.  Ontario:  Pembroke.  ISBN:  0-921217-31-7.

Lederer, Richard.  (1987) Anguished English.  New York:  Dell.  ISBN:  0-440-20352-X.
_____.  (1988)  Get Thee to a Punnery.  Charleston:  Wyrick.  ISBN:  0-941711-08-0.

Urdang, Laurence.  (1988)  The Whole Ball of Wax.  New York: Putnam.  ISBN:  0-399-51436-8.

Other Resources for Cliches and Idioms.  Click on the title of the book and go to Amazon.com for an annotation and reviews.

Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins
William Morris, Mary Morris, Isaac Asimov (Designer); Hardcover - 688 pages 2nd edition (April 1988)
                     Harpercollins; ISBN: 006015862X

Dunces, Gourmands & Petticoats (Artful Wordsmith Series)
Adrian Room; Paperback - 304 pages (April 1998); NTC Publishing Group; ISBN: 084420921X

The Dictionary of Cliches
 James Rogers; Mass Market Paperback Reissue edition (January 1987); Ballantine Books; ISBN: 0345338146

Dic Ntc's Thematic Dictionary of American Idioms
Richard A. Spears; Hardcover - 400 pages (October 1997) NTC Publishing Group; ISBN: 0844208302

Cliches, Idioms, Expressions
cutting up (p. 3)
"hot" second (p. 4)
laughing "sock" (p. 49)
pull the switch (p. 94)
come clean (p. 94)
down the road to crime (p. 94)
strong suit (p. 95)
on a wing and a prayer (p. 102)
last straw (p. 108)
top of the line (p. 110)
cream of the crop (p. 110)
conk (p. 87)
crackers (p. 146)
panning on folks (p. 30)
redneck (p. 146)
hillbilly (p. 146)
let the cat out of the bag (p. 152)
dirty dogs (p. 168)
peons (p. 170)
dead as a donut (p. 175)
on the blink (p. 203)
top wolf (p. 203)
serious as a heart attack (p. 204)
egghead (p. 25)

Extension activities:
- Have students incorporate cliches and idioms in their own writing.
- Have students work together in small groups to make their own illustrated dictionaries of their favorite cliches and idioms.
- Have students play charades to act out certain cliches or idioms and let other students identify the appropriate expression.
- Read senerios from several adolescent literature books and ask students to apply a cliche or idiom that would fit the circumstances of the story.


- Check out on-line cliches and idioms:
bullethttp://utopia.knoware.nl/users/sybev/cliche/
    The Book of Cliches
bullethttp://www.westegg.com/cliche/
    Search from among 3,300 different cliches.

 
Other Research for The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963.

Based on the Epilogue in the book (p. 207-210), have students use the following on-line resources to gather information and insight into the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. Encourage students to develop questions and then form discussion groups to try to provide answers.  Personal Response Journals could be kept by students for them to chronicle their thoughts and reactions.  Other topics of study should include references in the book to the 1960's and to the Civil Rights movement. 

Internet Sites for "Life in the 1960's."

1960's Flashback:  http://www.1960sflashback.com/ 

American Cultural History - 1960's:  http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade60.html

I Love the Sixties:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/years/60sindex.shtml

Welcome to the 1960's:  http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/century/1960s.htm

1960's a Go-Go:  http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-1587/life_society/60s/

Film History of the 1960's:  http://www.filmsite.org/60sintro.html

WebQuest:  1960's Museum:  http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/museum/webquest.html

1960 - 1969:  http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/

1960's Word Find:  http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778-52670--,00.html

NAACP (National Associatino for the Advancement of Colored People)
http://www.naacp.org/
    Homepage for the NAACP.

CORE (Congress of Racial Equity)
http://www.core-online.org/
    Homepage of CORE.

Greensboro 1960s Sit-Ins
     http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/greensboro_1960.htm 

Reading and Study Guides for The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963

bullet http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/pdfs/Watsons.pdf
bullet http://www.maslibraries.org/infolit/samplers/watsons.html
bullet http://www.eduplace.com/tview/pages/w/The_Watsons_Go_to_Birmingham_-_1963_Christopher_Paul_Curtis.html
bullet http://gretchenle.com/online_units/watsons/watson1.html
bullet http://english.byu.edu/Novelinks/reading%20strategies/Watsons/watsons.htm

Books for Possible Text Set for The Watson's go to Birmingham - 1963
 
bullet Stick Up for Yourself : Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power & Positive Self-Esteem
by Gershen Kaufman, Lev Raphael, Pamela Espeland
bullet How to Handle Bullies, Teasers and Other Meanies: A Book That Takes the Nuisance Out of Name Calling and Other Nonsense  by Kate Cohen-Posey
bullet Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story About Bullying by Becky Ray McCain, Todd Leonardo
bullet The Sixties: 1960-1969 by Paul Monaco
bullet The Columbia Guide to America in the 1960s (Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures)
by David Farber, Beth Bailey
bullet Do You Remember?: The Book That Takes You Back -- by Michael Gitter, Sylvie Anapol
bullet Do You Remember TV: The Book That Takes You Back -- by Michael Gitter, et al;
bullet Do You Remember Technology? -- by Michael Gitter, et al
bullet A Dream Of Freedom by Diane Mcwhorter
bullet The Voice That Challenged a Nation : Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards) by Russell Freedman
bullet The Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History With 21 Activities by Mary Turck
 
bullet I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King Jr., Kathleen A. Wilson (Illustrator)
 

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