Christopher Paul Curtis was born on May 10th, in Flint, Michigan. He spent the first thirteen years after high school working on an automobile assembly plant. It was during that time that he began work on the early drafts of The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963. Upon publication, it was to become a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor. In St. Paul, the book has been chosen as this year’s citywide selection for readers young and old, and has become a focal point of a district literacy effort. At Battle Creek Elementary School, Jane Batcheller’s sixth grade students have been reading the book and enhancing the experience by making scrapbooks that chronicle the fictional family’s journey from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama. With each stop on the map, the children learn the state’s geography and history, especially the events that happened during the 1960’s. His second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, was the winner of both the Newbery and Coretta Scott King. Curtis currently lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
