Clyde Robert Bulla Dies at 93
By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 5/29/2007 10:30:00 AM
Clyde Robert Bulla, who wrote more than 60 children’s books, starting with The Donkey Cart in 1946, died May 23 at this home in Warrensburg, MO. He was 93.
Born on a farm in a small town in Missouri, Bulla said he always wanted to write, according to his bio on the Scholastic Web site. His first piece was titled, “How Planets Were Born,” and all through school Bulla continued to write stories, as well as plays and poetry. After years of receiving rejections from editors, he finally sold a magazine story. Soon after, he wrote his only adult novel, These Bright Young Dreams, which was accepted by a publisher. Bulla made no money because his publisher went bankrupt. He went on to write two more books, but no one wanted to publish them. He spent the next several years working at a local weekly newspaper, where he wrote a weekly column. The column caught the attention of a well-known author and illustrator of children's books, who suggested that he try writing for kids. Bulla sent her a manuscript for The Donkey Cart, and since then he continued to write children's books, as well as the music for several children's song books. Bulla’s stories of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Pocahontas and other historical figures captivated young readers for decades. "I'm reaching children at very impressionable age levels — third to sixth grade, 8 to 11 years old," Bulla told the Los Angeles Times in 1973. "I have to be very careful what I write about."Using simple, straightforward language and fast-moving plots, his stories were often told against a historical background. Pocahontas and the Strangers (1972) and A Lion to Guard Us (1981) and others depicted colonial America through the eyes of children.
He also described the challenges faced by modern kids in books such as Shoeshine Girl (1975, all Thomas Cromwell), The Chalk Box Kid (1987), and The Paint Brush Kid (1999, both Random House).
