The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 Paperback – September 8, 1997

This book came new, it is a great book for a younger age group. It is a classroom read for school. Very pleased with it.

The Watsons go to Birmingham -1963 was overall my favorite book of 2016. I just recently read the book in my seventh grade reading class. Personally I thought the novel was a eye-opening, heart-warming, page-turning book. The way the whole book was laid out was brilliant, all of the characters played such an important part in the novel. For example, Byron is a juvenile delinquent, but a softie at heart. In the book when Kenny, Joetta,and By went swimming Joey, and Byron listened to Grandma Sands, and stayed away from Collier’s Landing. Kenny, on the other hand, did not. Before Kenny went swimming Byron told Kenny, and Joetta this long story about Winnie the Poohs evil twin brother, the Wool Pooh. Once Kenny went swimming he got caught in the whirlpool. When Kenny got caught Byron came running after Kenny and jumped in after him. Under the water Kenny thought Byron was the Wool Pooh, and started trying to fight him off. Luckily, Byron was stronger Kenny and managed to pull him back up out of the water. When he did Byron was kissing Kennys head and thanking god that he got there in time. The chapter “I Meet Winnie's Evil Twin Brother, the Wool Pooh” is an amazing way to show how Byron and Kenny feel towards each other. Its also a great example to show how complex Byron's personality is.I also loved how Christopher Paul Curtis came up with all of these family moments that not only brought them closer together but made YOU feel like YOU’RE in the book watching them!The last thing i'm going to add on to my comment is that I would recommend this novel too other young kids my age. It’s an amazing book that you’ll never want to put down!

Great Book for summer reading.

My 8 year old and I listened to this audio book. It's told from the perspective of a boy about my son's age. There are some too silly parts, like an older brother who gets his tongue stuck on a frozen rear view mirror, and installing a record player in a car. Both seem unrealistic to me. There are also some "older brother's language" issues (cussing or referring to cussing), and references to the middle finger salute, which I could have done without. The mother threatens to burn the older brother who is caught playing with matches again.Otherwise the family is likable and the story held our interest. When the older brother is getting into too much trouble the parents plan a trip to Birmingham Alabama, where they plan to leave him with Grandma. When they get there things don't seem the same as the old days growing up there. Desegregation is causing hostilities and violence which the family has to deal with. This part of the story is handled in an unusual way. We see things thru the eyes of a young boy who has some life threatening experiences and we experience some of his delusions, fear and grief he feels. In the end the big brother who was a problem earlier now feels compassion and concern for his little brother and helps him deal with his feelings. So some parts are not so great, but then maybe life is like that. We see some of the less appealing parts of this family and end up loving them anyway. I still recommend it.

My 11 year old male cousin Love it because it has his last name Watson

This was an assigned book for school, and my daughter loved it.

This is the only other novel I have read by Curtis and I enjoyed it even more than Bud, Not Buddy. I did not have to read this one in school so I had to track it down myself. I remember listening to the audio version at age eleven or twelve and loving the Watsons and all of their random adventures. The first incident, the one where the elder brother gets his lips stuck to a car mirror in winter because he was kissing his reflection, is one of my favorite moments in fiction so far. The brothers throwing cookies at birds, or eating them until they are sick is easily remembered as well. Even the scenes about school back in the early 60s and the cruelty of kids to those less fortunate was brilliantly done. The last third of the book becomes much more serious with the church bombing, however, and only now that I'm a little older can I appreciate the genius in that. When I was young I didn't really understand the significance of that section of the book and the only thing I remember really enjoying was the "whirlpool" scene which gave me chills. Later, the way the author made everything in this book work and still made it something that anyone can enjoy floors me. Brilliant novel. Absolutely brilliant and I recommend it to all those who didn't already have to read it.

When I first chose this book to read, I only went by the brief description that told what the book was about. Little did I know that when I began to read the book, I would feel as if I, myself was living through the Watsons. They had normal family drama, sibling rivalry, behavioral issues (that now a days, we would put our child on medication for) There are high points in the book as well as low points. But the family pulls together to get through the tough times. Although the book takes place in the 1960's, it seems to encompass some modern day problems in our society. Discrimination is still eminent in our society today but I feel it has gotten a bit better since the time frame in which this story took place. Through Kenny's eyes we are able to uncover what his feelings and fears are towards every day life, his brother and the incidents in Birmingham, Alabama. It is how this family comes through that has drawn me deeper into this book. The audience that I would gear this towards would be grades 5 - 7 because I feel at this age, they are most impressionable and would really allow the Watsons into their learning environment and minds.

I read this book with my kid, what a amusing, engaging read it was... and what nuggets of wisdom strewn all over the book.. We are going to miss the Watson's for sure...

I bought this book for my son to read and he could not put it down. He read it twice. So borrowed it from him and i think it a great read also.

It is so hard to find a good book for young readers. My son is 12 and he does like stories about orphans or monsters. This is the story about a nice family that looks like many other nice families (the tough oldest son included). However, the scene takes place in 1963, and bad things were happening in Birmingham in 1963. The book is nonetheless full of humor. It is extremely well written, with lots of dialogues and situations that are very well captured. My son and I had a good laugh together even if at the climax we didn't want to laugh anymore. A must be read book! Excellent!

It is a good book. I wonder if the wool pooh was or is real. I feel sorry for Kenny.

Livre acheté par obligation pour les cours d'anglais, et finalement il s'est révélé une bonne surprise : beaucoup d'humour, de style, on ne tombe pas dans le pathos, la fin est émouvante. Recommandé à plusieurs personnes. Par contre il faut un assez bon niveau d'anglais pour comprendre certaines expressions qui reproduisent l'accent du Sud (pas du niveau collège, plutôt lycée).