Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
George Washington Carver: Ingenious Inventor
Illustrator: Keith Tucker
Nonfiction Graphic Novel Series
For ages 7 to 10
Capstone Press, 2006 ISBN: 978-0736854849
George Washington Carver was born into slavery and when he was just a baby, during the third year of the Civil War, his mother was kidnapped by bushwackers. After that George and his brother James were raised by Moses and Susan Carver who were kind to the boys and did their best for them. They supported George’s decision to go off and get an education and when he was twelve he left home.
George was lucky enough to meet other people who wanted to see this bright boy get on in life and with their help he eventually got his high school diploma. He applied and got into college in Kansas but when he arrived he was told that he could not attend because he was black.
Later, in Iowa, George met another couple who saw how clever George was. With their encouragement he went to college and though he could not mingle with the white students freely, he at least was able to get an education. He clearly had an aptitude for horticultural studies and when Brooker T. Washington came to his college to speak, George Washington Carver heard him. Later he moved to Alabama to work in Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute. It was here that George did his famous research on peanuts and where he showed the world that a black man could be a first rate scientist.
This book, with its graphic novel format, provides readers with a perfect introduction to the life and work of George Washington Carver. Well written and carefully presented, this is one of the excellent titles in the “Graphic Library” series.
