Newbery Honor Book
National Book Award finalist
Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
Flora Stieglitz Straus Award

Beautiful verse explores agricultural scientist George Washington Carver's life and many achievements, from his work as a botanist and inventor to his unsung gifts as a painter, musician, and teacher.

George Washington Carver was determined to help the people he loved. Born a slave in Missouri, he left home in search of an education, eventually earning his master's degree. When Booker T. Washington invited Carver to start the agricultural department at the all-black-staffed Tuskegee Institute, Carver truly found his calling. He spent the rest of his life seeking solutions to the poverty among landless Black farmers by developing new uses for soil-replenishing crops such as peanuts, cowpeas, and sweet potatoes. This STEAM biography reveals Carver's complex and profoundly devout life.

This collection of poems provides a lyrical account of the life of George Washington Carver, a man born into slavery who went on to head the agricultural department at the Tuskegee Institute. Illustrations.

★ "An unmatchable picture not only of Carver's life but also of his impact within his time as well as in history. . . . The book has a resonance and heart that will gratify the knowledgeable and naive alike (and that also invites reading aloud)." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review