The Chalk Box Kid (Stepping Stone Books)

Random House is proud to present the tenth anniversary edition of a book Publishers Weekly called "a gem of a book...a story that goes straight to the heart."  When nine-year-old Gregory experiences several upsets in his life, he responds by creating a fantastic chalk garden on the charred walls of a burned-out factory behind his house.  As his garden grows and flourishes, Gregory finds a voice through his art and, for the first time, is able to find his own place in the world.  The Chalk Box Kid is sure to delight a new generation of children and their parents.  

Clyde Robert Bulla (1914–2007) was born on a farm near King City, Missouri. He went to a one-room country school. Reading and writing were his favorite subjects, and by the time he was seven, Bulla knew he wanted to be a writer. After years of writing magazine stories and novels and working on his hometown newspaper, he found that he really wanted to write for children. More than 70 of his books for boys and girls have been published.

Thomas B. Allen (1928–2004) was an American expressionist painter and illustrator known for his role in the rise of visual journalism in the 1950s and 1960s. Later in his career, he began illustrating children’s books such as The Chalk Box Kid, In Coal Country, and Grandma’s General Store: The Ark.