First, we’re having a GREAT time with the One School-One Book program…. Getting “thank you” notes from parents already about how it’s “forcing” some family reading time that they seemed to have lost over the years.
— Paul Marinko - Principal at St. Paul's Lutheran School - Fort Wayne, IN
Since last spring, our entire school has excitedly embraced the One School, One Book Program. We will soon begin our spring selection: A Cricket in Times Square -- the third book we've adopted since the spring of 2010!

We are so thrilled with the positive impact this program has had on our students, families, and staff
— Laurie LaRue - First Grade Teacher at Edgewood School - Bristol, CT
I think the OSOB program is brilliant. My seven year-old attends Orleans Elementary in Massachusetts and they (we) are reading Masterpiece. Since the grades levels range from one to five at this school, finding a book to suit all is difficult. My daughter can follow the big picture somewhat but we have to reinforce what we’ve read because it’s a lot to take in for her.
— Glenn Krzeminski - Parent of student at Orleans Elementary - Orleans, MA
The One District, One Book program promoted by Read To Them...is a powerful way to systemically address and promote a culture of literacy throughout the entire school system.

My school actually adopted a hamster and even used it as “pet therapy” for many of the behaviorally challenged children in our school.
— Kenny Moles of West Virginia

Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis (1999)

Bud, Not Buddy is the Newbery Award-winning follow-up to Christopher Paul Curtis’s acclaimed The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. It tells the story of Bud (not Buddy) a ten-year old African-American orphan in search of his father in Depression era America. Bud is a winning narrator as he peppers his account of his ups and downs with insights like his “Rules to Have a Funner Life and Learn How to Be a Better Liar.” He tries to see through and get the best of adults – all while still essentially being a kid. (He reminds one a lot of Huckleberry Finn.)

Curtis makes Bud a fine guide to the milieu of 1930s America around the environs of Flint and Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Bud spends the night in a Hooverville as part of his quest.) And Bud and Curtis also make fine guides to the popular music of the time – big band jazz as practiced by its African-American creators.. Bud, Not Buddy thus becomes a rich tour of the tastes and sounds of this era in American history. And Bud becomes our guide to unexpected lessons about those lost and found in our hearts. When Bud finally discovers the jazz band he’s been seeking (“the Dusky Devastators of the Depression”) his body and soul are enriched and he finds a welcome home at last.

There are five supplementary resources for Christopher Paul Curtis’s Bud, Not Buddy

a sample letter home to parents
a sample reading schedule
a Trivia Bank
a list of suggested activities
suggested assembly ideas

As a participating member of One School, One Book you may have access to all of these documents. Here are some samples: