Book In Review

        This is a book, A Man for All Seasons, was written for people who love to learn…it is about the life of George Washington Carver and his love of the earth and his love of learning.  George was born African American in a time when it was not easy being black; and, having a desire to go to college and learn.  Many colleges wouldn’t even talk to him when they discovered he was black. 

         He was not an angry young man…he just studied nature and plants; learning how they grew best and sharing that knowledge with others.  He went on to study at college and to teach others…even when he was discriminated against.  Sometimes, even at places where he was giving speaches…he was not allowed to come in the front door like the white people who came to hear him speak.  This was not right…but he did not let it hold him back.

            Being poor did not stop him from learning.  Loosing both of his parents at a young age did not stop him from what he wanted to do in life.  Being black did not stop him…even when others did not want to give him a chance.  He learned to read and write; in a time of our country’s history, when it was not acceptable to learn to do so, if you were black. 

            The thing about George is that he loved to show others how they could improve their lives by rotating their crops and get more cops from the land by fertilizing and watering as well.  He wanted to help others have a better way of life.  George received a letter one day from a very famous black man in the country.  His name was Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute.  He wanted George to come to the Institute to teach because George was the only black man to receive a stellar degree from a white man’s college.  Booker thought that George could be a wonderful role model for the poor black students who wanted to attend the Institute to go on and excel in their education.

            George went on to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in the agricultural department.  He deeply respected nature and chose to share that respect with everyone who would listen.  He taught others to perservere in their growth and in their desire to learn.  George even spoke before Congress.  He set an inspirational example for others…black, white and of every nationality.  

            This book on the life of George Washington Carver was written by Stephen Krensky and was illustrated by Wil Clay.   It was published by Amistad and Collins an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and was copyrighted in 2008.  It was written as juvenile literature.    You can view the writer’s website at:  www.stephenkrensky.com and the illustrator’s website at: www.wilclay.com .