Born on January 9th, Clyde Robert Bulla said,"I learned to read and write in a one room country school [in Missouri]. As soon as I discovered words and what they meant and what they could be made to mean, my path was set. I was going to be a writer." With such childhood insight it is no wonder that the author of over 80 titles including Riding the Pony Express (1948), The Chalk Box Kid (ALA Notable Children's Book, 1987) and Paint Brush Kid (1999) became a literary success. Even more impressive is that his family didn't encourage his dream of becoming a writer, and he had countless rejections to his credit before he sold his first magazine piece at the age of 20. The publication of his first book is a different story. He was working for his local paper, never dreaming of writing for children, when a friend, author and educator Emma Celeste Thibodeux, sent a favorite column by Bulla to her editor. The Donkey Cart (1946) was the final result of her belief in his potential. Not confined to one genre, Bulla writes nonfiction, music for children's plays, paints, and has a special affinity with middle grade readers.