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#the watsons go to birmingham 1963
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I want to recommend Levar Burton’s audiobook of “The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963.” He does such a good job narrating it
I am 95% sure they read this book to me in elementary school but that was literally almost 25 years ago. So I found it on Libby!!!
Thanks for the rec! Gonna start listening to it today!
mod ali
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blackinperiodfilms · 2 years
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History to Page and Screen: The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963
Talking about The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 book, its 2013 movie adaptation, and the history behind the story.    
I had to reedit this video so many times and I finally got it past the copyright claims (for now)!  Hope you enjoy.                                                            
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littlepon · 6 months
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Back in like 4th-6th grade I read Christopher Paul Curtis’s “the Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963” twice and when I imagined the wool pooh i now realize it looked like a minecraft mob
minecraft wasn’t even a thing yet
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This is what I’ve been working on. Its finally done. The copyright claims almost took me out. But I found a work around (I think). 
A video talking about The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 and comparing the movie adaptation and the original novel to history. 
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nat-reviews-books · 20 days
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Kenny is the middle child in the Weird Watson family. When his juvenile delinquent older brother starts acting in a way that their parents can't handle, the family goes on a road trip to take Byron to their grandmother, during a very contentious time in American history.
I loved this book so much! Levar Burton has a beautiful voice, and the music and sound effects in the background made this an absolute delight to listen to. I also loved that since this is a book written for younger readers, the author adds in historical context in the epilogue.
Recommended for: people who enjoy historical fiction, fans of A Christmas Story or the short stories it's based on, and young readers looking for something that is both fun and serious.
Content Warnings: bullying, bombing, death, racism
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historical-mg-ya · 1 year
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gehayi · 1 year
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In case you or some kids you know need some books to read...
Books under Fire: A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children's Books, Second Edition
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, by Christine Baldacchino Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice, by Marianne Celano and Marietta Collins The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis Lily and Dunkin, by Donna Gephart George, by Alex Gino Looking for Alaska, by John Green Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene Prince & Knight, by Daniel Haack It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, by Robie Harris The Popularity Papers series, by Amy Ignatow I Am Jazz, by Jazz Jennings The Giver, by Lois Lowry Monster, by Walter Dean Myers Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor The Best Man, by Richard Peck Captain Underpants series, by Dav Pilkey This Day in June, by Gayle E. Pitman In Our Mothers’ House, by Patricia Polacco And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series, by Alvin Schwartz Bone series, by Jeff Smith This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor Drama, by Raina Telgemeier The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Jill Twiss Nasreen’s Secret School, by Jeanette Winter
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Happy birthday Melody! What a beautiful girl to start the year off with!
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I've actually had Melody NIB quite a while. I just... couldn't find the right occasion to open her. (And then her birthday snuck up!) Melody is actually 6 months older than my mum, and my mum was also born and raised in Michigan.
(I'd love to give a Melody to my mum. But my mum is casually racist, and she would not appreciate the gesture or significance).
Melody and I are celebrating her birthday by reading two books:
Half Magic by Edward Eager, which released in 1954. Half Magic has been a favorite of mine since childhood. It's about four children who find a coin that only grants half wishes. They have fights and adventures while they work out the rules of the coin. However, Half Magic does have some racial stereotypes regarding Arabs (skip the chapter What Happened to Mark if you wish).
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The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, which is set in 1963 in both Flint, MI, and Birmingham, AL. (You may have read Bud, Not Buddy by him as well!) Curtis is from Flint, MI, and is 7 months older than Melody!
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I had not read The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963 until last year. I impulsively picked it up at a thrift store because I always need more books and I had recently been finding some books about the Civil Rights Era.
The ending of the book focuses on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, but the majority of the book is focused on Kenny and his family, and the shenanigans his older brother gets into. Like Melody's story, it touches on the racism that permeates Kenny's life and why the Watsons live in Detroit instead of Birmingham. Kenny is also traumatized by the bombing, mirroring Melody. Absolutely recommended, whether you've read Melody's story or not.
Melody and I are looking forward to Kavi's arrival at our house this week. I'm sure the two of them are going to enjoy singing together. May this new year bring everyone wonderful doll adventures, and time to read new books!
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readingbooksinisrael · 8 months
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Book Review: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
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This was a reread for me, except that the last time I read this was in 2010 and didn't fully understand it. There are a few reasons for that, mainly that I was reading it in Hebrew and it was above my Hebrew level at the time, but also because the book jumps around a bit, especially in the latter half, which was confusing for ten-year-old me.
Despite that, I remembered loving this book and, rereading it, it definitely had a significant influence on me. I also realized that it is by the author who wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, which was another childhood book I didn't fully get, but really liked. (Sidenote: It's always hard to describe how good books that are about a horrific thing made you feel.)
Bud, Not Buddy is very engaging from start to finish. The way Bud sees the world is very interesting. Truly, the standouts of this book are the characters. I really enjoyed reading about all the different characters, both from Bud's perspective and trying to think what they thought of him.
Unfortunately, I feel that the historical world wasn't as built up, which may also have led to my confusion as a child. There were no mistakes, as far as I know; I just didn't feel immersed in the world like I usually do in historical fiction.
Highly recommended, still.
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zoobus · 2 years
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What is your favorite and least favorite book you were forced to read in school?
If I was forced to read a book, I couldn't read it. I wish this was an exaggeration but despite being the #1 reader and library addict at every school I attended, I floundered in English class. Any order to read a book became impossible to read. An impassable mental block. It wasn't specific to school either - parents, friends, soft recommendations, an actual author - either I couldn't read it or it wouldn't take. Reading Lord of the Flies and watching the text ping off my eyeballs right back into the book. I'm lucky* to have passed.
I've never figured out what causes this. My earliest experience was some fifth grade reading gambling thing that gave you a bingo board full of book titles, one lottery ticket for each bingo row of books read, you must earn one at a minimum. The whole class was bitching because obviously Mila will win, what's the point of even trying, you should make two awards tiers, one for Mila and one for normal people (I drank all this up quite smugly).
Two months later I crawl back with a Harry du Bois grin and one (1) ticket earned thanks to reading two books prior to the contest and cheating. This would become a pattern.
Tl;dr The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. popcorn reading it in class made me seek out more of his work. I don't remember anyone else.
*ˡᵘᶜᵏʸ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵇᵒᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜˡᵃˢˢ ᵇᵒᵒᵏʷᵒʳᵐ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜˡᵃˢˢ ᵈᵉᵇᵃᵗᵉʳ ˢᵗᵃᵗᵘˢ ᵍᶦᵛᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵒᵗˢ ᵒᶠ ᶜˡᵒᵘᵗ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵗᵉᵃᶜʰᵉʳˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉ ᵉˣᶜʰᵃⁿᵍᵉᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵍʳᵃᵈᵉˢ
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britishchick09 · 4 months
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in 'the watsons go to birmingham- 1963', kenny reads a poem from 1935, which is 28 years before the story. 'watsons' was published in 1995... which was 28 years ago! :o
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siwrimsu · 2 years
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The series “When They See Us” tells us the story of the story of Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Kevin Richardson and Antron McCray, the five boys who were wrongfully convicted of the brutal 1989 rape of a woman known simply as the Central Park Jogger. she was white, and she had been sexually assaulted and left for dead. The group of teenagers who were between the ages of 14-16 were coerced into confessing to the assault. Donald Trump who at the time was not a president, paid for ads and newspapers to bring the death penalty back in order to apply it to this case. DNA testing in 1981 done by the FBI proved that the five boys did not it commit this crime but New York Police Department and New York district attorney proceeded with the prosecution anyway. I think this clearly shows racism because everyone believed that the boys were guilty just because they were black, everyone who was around them was white, the victim, the prosecutors, and although the people in the jury weren’t all completely white, there was only 4 black people in that jury. This led to them being heavily influenced to believe these young men were guilty.
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“The Watson’s Go To Birmingham” portrays white supremacy as it follows a family who visits Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights movement. During the movie it briefly talks over or shows the Alabama 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. On September 15th, 1963 the church was knocked to the ground, after the desegregation in Birmingham in May of 1963, white supremacists and white segregationist opposed desegregation which caused violence to enter the city. Eventually the church found justice when the FBI conducted an investigation to revealed the suspect of the bombing was apart of the KKK.
I chose this picture for microaggressions because the quote “you’re not like the other black people I know, you speak so well” is a hostile insult which was unintentional. This quote is something that a lot of black people here on a daily basis, it’s derogatory to us and is often times not seen as aggressive by the other person but it’s still derogatory and can be seen as insults.
This picture of an article shows how miscegenation was once illegal in earlier times. In order for an interracial couple to get married was to move to a state where it was already legalized and in some cases such as this one, you would be arrested when you returned.
I chose the series “Dahmer” on Netflix to represent systematic racism or in other words institutional racism. It shows systematic racism because it shows how one of his victims who was at the time 14 years old was led back to police after Dahmer lied to them. I believe the victim was led back because he was a person of color and Dahmer is white, not to mention the women who complained was a black women. Also Dahmer was arrested for a previous crime on a 13 year old boy and was let of by the judge. He only served a week in jail after he made bail.
Lastly, I think the movie “Princess and The Frog” shows white privilege throughout the film. In the movie it shows unintentionally shows how Tiana was lesser than her white sidekick. Tiana worked in the kitchen while her sidekick or best friend Charlotte was the product of a wealthy family, her father was one of the most wealthiest and powerful men in New Orleans, she was given everything she wanted and this gave her the shallow and spoiled personality shown throughout the movie, whereas Tiana is hardworking and is often absorbed into her work environment, she shows how working hard will eventually lead you to where you want to be and in her case that was opening her own restaurant.
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Quick 3: Black History Month
  Library/Information Skills Lesson Plan
Subject Area Integrated: History (US Civil Rights Era), ELA (Informational Texts/Fictionalized True Events), Current Events, Social Issues
  Grade Level:  3rd-5th
  Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives: 
Students will be able to understand and discuss the Children’s Crusade of 1963.
Students will be asked to recall prior knowledge of the Civil Rights Era and segregation.
Students can locate books about African Americans and black history.
Students can locate and share facts from specific books with their classmates.
  Materials:  
PowerPoint of the lesson (discussion questions included)
Reading: Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
Black History Month books display in the library
African American Authors and Illustrators bulletin board outside the library
  Instructional Procedures: 
Students are asked what they know about segregation.
We read Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson.
Students are asked “what is a cause you would or will march for? Why?” Some examples are given, like Black Lives Matter, immigrant rights, animal rights, women’s rights, etc.
The librarian demonstrates how to find the Black History Month Display, African American biographies, and books about the Civil Rights Era.
Students are challenged to explore these books and share something they learned about a famous African American or the Civil Rights Era at the end of class.
  Suggested Instructional Strategies:  
There are a lot of helpful back materials in the book and a timeline that puts the events into a fuller perspective, which is especially helpful for 3rd and 4th graders. My 5th graders will have read The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 in their ELA class before this lesson.
The photos in the back of the book of children marching, being arrested, and being sprayed by firehoses are especially helpful in illustrating the events, so putting them into the PowerPoint may make them easier for all students to see, making them more impactful.
  Assessment:  
Students are challenged to find a book about a famous African American or the Civil Rights Era and share a fact they learned at the end of class. They share which section of the library they found their book.
  Related Materials & Resources:  
List of Coretta Scott King Book Award winners
Copies of the timeline from Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
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tanda-soal · 3 years
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Shelf-Confidence BPC | May 28: History, Huh?
If you've never read this before, I highly recommend it! It's a children's book that touches on so many important themes like poverty, food insecurity, racism, trauma and as the title suggests, the church bombing in Alabama in 1963, a white supremacist terrorist bombing that killed four little girls
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📚New 25th Anniversary Edition of...
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
Yearling; Anniversary Edition (2020)
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree about an unforgettable family on a road-trip during one of the most important times in the civil rights movement. This special edition makes a perfect gift and includes bonus content.
When the Watson family—ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron—sets out on a trip south to visit Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama, they don’t realize that they’re heading toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history. The Watsons’ journey reminds us that even in the hardest times, laughter and family can help us get through anything.
Ages: 8 and up
Grades: 5 and up
Pages: 256 
Available Now👉🏿The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963
Find more children’s and young adult books by Black authors here
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shadowmoonarts · 4 years
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With all the BLM protests and inequality going, I'd like to recommend some really great books, that I've read, from an African-American's POV. Some of these books do involve racism towards the black community, but the book itself is beautifully written, and I'd recommend these any day!
The Hate U Give book by Angie Thomas 
A book about a 16-year old girl, Starr Carter. She witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, from the hands of a police officer and must find her voice to speak up for what’s right.
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Ghost Boys book by Jewell Parker Rhodes
A book about a 12-year old boy, Jerome, who is shot by a police officer and observes as a ghost what’s happened to his family and the community. He also meets another ghost, Emmett Till, who helps him navigate his way around as a spirit.
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Dear Martin book by Nic Stone
A book about a boy, Justyce McAllister, who has good grades and a pretty great life. He keeps a journal and writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about questions he has. Then one day, his best friend, Manny, is shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Now Justyce must face the media and questions about what happened that day. 
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Solo book by Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess
A book about a boy, named Blade, who doesn't like the family and their lifestyle he's been brought up in. He faces racism from his girlfriend's father and the cameras that are always taking photos of his drug-addict and retired rock star dad, Rutherford. When he finds out he's adopted, he sets off to find his birth mother in Africa.
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Swing book by Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess
A book about a boy named Noah, who is trying to be as cool and smooth as the jazz music he likes. He struggles to confess to his childhood friend, Sam, and is taking advice from his best friend, Walt's cousin, and a podcast. Walt, nicknamed Swing since he loves to play baseball, tells Noah to get out there more, and live life.
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The Crossover book by Kwame Alexander
A book about two brothers, Josh and Jordan, who love to play basketball and are facing life together, yet differently. They're also dealing with issues within their family.
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 book by Christopher Paul Curtis
A book about a fourth-grade boy, Kenneth Watson, who's family takes a trip up to Birmingham, Alabama for the summer, in 1963. Kenneth and his older brother, Bryon, struggle to get along and try to put their differences aside for the summer. 
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(Note: The Hate U Give and The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 have also been adapted into movies, but I'd recommend reading the books first!)
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