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 .

         Young Thomas Jefferson studied law and designed his own home from studying books of architecture.  He was shy in school.  But he loved to learn.  He married and had children and grew up in a time when slavery was common in the south.  He became a writer who went on to write some of the greatest writings that this country has come to treasure; such as the American Declaration of Independence.  He became an important part of our country’s history.

         He was a very interesting man.  Some of the things he did seemed to conflict with the very things he wrote about.  He didn’t believe in slavery…but he owned slaves.  That is still hard to understand. 

         He was govenor of Virginia, he was an ambassador to Paris, he was a writer and a person who studied law, he was a plantation owner, he planned the school system in Virginia…he planned for children to be able to attend high school for free, and even helped to plan the construction of the University of Virginia; and eventually he became the president of the United States of America.  He was a complex and interesting person and this book gives the readers a glimpse of the man behind the public person that we hear about.

        Before she died, Thomas’ wife inherited slaves from her father…one of them was even rumored to be her half sister…Sally Hemings.  She helped him with getting his youngest child Polly to Paris.  Sally was fourteen at the time herself.  When she came back from Paris she gave birth to her first child.  He resembled Thomas Jefferson.  Later, through DNA testing…it was proven that at least one of Sally’s children was conceived with Thomas Jefferson as the father. 

        Many people did not want to believe that Thomas Jefferson would have fathered children with one of his own slaves but was rumored to be true for a long time; the DNA testing proves it to be true.  What role Sally Hemings played in Thomas Jefferson’s life is a bit unclear…but relationships of mixed heritage were not often publically acknowledged in those days.

       This book is interesting to read because it gives more information on areas of Thomas’ life than what is generally taught.  The publisher was Scholastic Paperback Nonfiction an imprint of Scholastic.  The book is a hardcover picture book but i do think that it should be for older elementary children or middle school readers.  It was copyrighted in 2006. 

          The book covers young Thomas’ life as a young business person…selling newspapers, candy and food on the train The Grand Trunk to customers that road the train daily from Port Huron to Detroit.  It details his marriages and his children.  But where it really shines is detailing his never ending quest to invent and improve the things people use everyday.  This go- getter attitude was a very important trait.  He was a doer; someone who was driven to accomplish great things.

          All through his life he looked for ways to improve or invent products that would make things better or easier.  He filed over 1,000 patents as a inventor.

          This book is fun because it has lots of pictures and drawings through out it’s pages.  The reader gets to see Thomas as he lived. 

           Most children know that Thomas Edison was the successful inventor of the lightbulb.  But, they may not know all about his other contributions to our society.  Some of those  inventions set the foundation to today’s electronic gadgets that children enjoy, today, such as; their ipods, movies,  rechargeable batteries and even improving the technology for phones. 

          Thomas Edison’s “can do” and “I never give up” attitude is very inspiring.  In reading, The Man Who Lit Up The World , the underlying theme is that things get accomplished when you stay focused and you are persistent in pursuing your dreams.  I think that children reading this book will find it interesting to see how different their life is because of some of Thomas Edison’s inventions.  His curiosity is contagious.

        The author of this book is Martin Woodside.  The book was published by Sterling Publishing.  Their website is :  www.sterlingpublishing.com.  It was copywrited in 2007.