Born a slave, George Washington Carver developed an early love of growing things

Author/Illustrator: Aliki
Format: Paperback
Published: Simon & Schuster, 1965

Born a slave, George Washington Carver developed an early love of growing things and soon became known as the Plant Doctor. After saving enough money and finding a rare college that was willing to admit a black student, Carver studied agriculture. He was then hired at the Tuskegee Institute and devoted the rest of his life to bettering the crops, and therefore the lives, of poor black farmers. Aliki's light-colored pastels are lovely and her informative text  reads like a story. A Weed is a Flower is an excellent tribute to a man who was much more than the champion of peanuts.