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A Weed Is a Flower
Discover how George Washington Carver went from a slave to an innovator of agricultural science in this luminously illustrated picture book.
Born a slave, George Washington Carver went on to become the most prominent black scientist of the early twentieth century.
Born a slave, George Washington Carver went on to become the most prominent black scientist of the early twentieth century.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
15 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Aliki
187 books76 followersAliki has written and illustrated many books, both fiction and nonfiction, loved by readers throughout the world. The books were inspired by a word, an experience, or the desire to find out. Aliki lives in London, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
September 22, 2020
He was born enslaved in western rural Missouri, orphaned as a child and freed brusquely after the Civil War. Sometime in his 20s, he moved to Iowa where a white couple he met encouraged him to pursue higher education. His education before this had been for the most part patchy and self-taught; at Simpson College in central Iowa, he studied art until a teacher encouraged him to enroll at Iowa State Agricultural College to study botany. There, he became the school’s first African-American student.
Written and illustrated by Aliki, Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver is the ideal gift you can give your kid. This is the stirring narrative of a man who rose above his diffident beginnings to become a scientist and devote his life to helping others, predominantly poor southern farmers.
Although he was born a slave, through conscientiousness and hard work he was able to make numerous discoveries involving common peanuts. Dr. Carver studied agricultural science at the Tuskegee Institute and taught farmers about the importance of rotating crops.
Aliki’s account of the life of George Washington Carver is informative and boldly illustrated. This biography will help early readers and listeners appreciate the importance of diligence and scientific discovery.
Written and illustrated by Aliki, Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver is the ideal gift you can give your kid. This is the stirring narrative of a man who rose above his diffident beginnings to become a scientist and devote his life to helping others, predominantly poor southern farmers.
Although he was born a slave, through conscientiousness and hard work he was able to make numerous discoveries involving common peanuts. Dr. Carver studied agricultural science at the Tuskegee Institute and taught farmers about the importance of rotating crops.
Aliki’s account of the life of George Washington Carver is informative and boldly illustrated. This biography will help early readers and listeners appreciate the importance of diligence and scientific discovery.
March 23, 2022
A beautiful book about George Washington Carver! One thing I keep noticing in biographies about great men and women is that alot of them suffered or went to through deep grief but didn’t let that stop them from their life’s purpose!
May 12, 2024
Okay this was a beautiful lil book! I need a solid biography on this brilliant man!!!
December 12, 2013
A great educational book for your children over the preschool age. My 6 yr old loved it. Lots of good information with beautiful pictures that will help keep children engaged. A great addition to any children's library.
June 26, 2016
Phenomenal illustrations and story that young readers will enjoy while learning a about horticulture.
December 7, 2018
A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver
By: Aliki
32 pages
AD640L
5 out of 5 stars
From creating a bar of soap from a sweet potato, to churning peanuts into a smooth butter, George Washington Carver is well-known for his inventions made from simple plants. Born from slavery, Carver’s curiosity lead him to explore the world, and ask questions no one ever thought of asking. His love and skills for nurturing plants lead to all sorts of discoveries he sought the answers to. With hard work and determination, Carver eventually went to college and then taught other students the sciences of plants. Soon, Carver started to discover new inventions from using his plants. He created a bar of soap from sweet potato, paper made from peanut shells, and creamy butter from peanuts which became a presently well-known snack for people of all ages. Carver passionately continued working and discovering until his death. His legacy still lives on and his inventions are well appreciated, as well as delicious. This book is a must read because it tells the story of an aspiring black inventor that is often left out in history books. His inventions are continuously used today, yet are taken for granted since not many people know about the man behind these everyday materials. Young history fans will love reading this book, especially if they are a fan of African American history. There are so many African American inventors, inspirers, and entertainers that are unmentioned or forgotten in history due to the lack of credit they were given. Learning about historical people, like George Washington Carver, will increasingly help children understand and appreciate American history, and know who were the original inventors and inspirers of machines, products, sciences, and entertainment. I like this book because it teaches African American history in a picture book format, which is easy for early readers. Also, it was inspiring and fascinating to learn all of Carver’s invention from simple, basic plants. So the next time you are eating a PB and J sandwich from Jif or Skippy, you’ll know exactly who originally invented peanut butter.
Reviewed By: Salimah Boufath
By: Aliki
32 pages
AD640L
5 out of 5 stars
From creating a bar of soap from a sweet potato, to churning peanuts into a smooth butter, George Washington Carver is well-known for his inventions made from simple plants. Born from slavery, Carver’s curiosity lead him to explore the world, and ask questions no one ever thought of asking. His love and skills for nurturing plants lead to all sorts of discoveries he sought the answers to. With hard work and determination, Carver eventually went to college and then taught other students the sciences of plants. Soon, Carver started to discover new inventions from using his plants. He created a bar of soap from sweet potato, paper made from peanut shells, and creamy butter from peanuts which became a presently well-known snack for people of all ages. Carver passionately continued working and discovering until his death. His legacy still lives on and his inventions are well appreciated, as well as delicious. This book is a must read because it tells the story of an aspiring black inventor that is often left out in history books. His inventions are continuously used today, yet are taken for granted since not many people know about the man behind these everyday materials. Young history fans will love reading this book, especially if they are a fan of African American history. There are so many African American inventors, inspirers, and entertainers that are unmentioned or forgotten in history due to the lack of credit they were given. Learning about historical people, like George Washington Carver, will increasingly help children understand and appreciate American history, and know who were the original inventors and inspirers of machines, products, sciences, and entertainment. I like this book because it teaches African American history in a picture book format, which is easy for early readers. Also, it was inspiring and fascinating to learn all of Carver’s invention from simple, basic plants. So the next time you are eating a PB and J sandwich from Jif or Skippy, you’ll know exactly who originally invented peanut butter.
Reviewed By: Salimah Boufath
August 28, 2022
A Weed is a Flower: The life of George Washington Carver (Hardcover) Aliki- Children's Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the story of childhood of Afro-American George Washington Carver. When George Washington Carver was just a young child, he had a secret: a garden of his own. Here, he rolled dirt between his fingers to check if plants needed more rain or sun. He protected roots through harsh winters, so plants could be reborn in the spring. He trimmed flowers, spread soil, studied life cycles. And it was in this very place that George’s love of nature sprouted into something so much more. His hard work in the field was the light for his bright future. The book showcases his curiosity and love for nature from his earliest days after being born into slavery in 1864. He tended a secret garden and learned an incredible amount of knowledge from trial and error. He learned how to sew, make dyes, create medicine from plants and leaves. At the age of 12, he moved away from his childhood home and traveled through several states continuing to learn about art and agriculture. He was the first Black man to graduate from Iowa Agricultural College and he went on to teach agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. On the very last page of this book, we are left with a final thought, which appeared to be his mantra: "Regard Nature. Revere Nature. Respect Nature." Coloured illustrations help the reader in relating to the story.
September 28, 2018
Summary:
"A Weed is a Flower" is a children's book about the life of George Washington Carver. It covers important events from his entire life. The book explains Carver's curiosity throughout his childhood and how that led him to accomplish amazing things that contributed greatly to our world including his inventions using peanuts and sweet potatoes.
Evaluation:
This is a fun read for students who like nonfiction. The book is informative and an easy read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of George Washington Carver.
Teaching Point:
Because George Washinton Carver is a first and fifth-grade standard, this book is great for teaching about his life as well as his accomplishments. It also shares the important message that you can do anything that you set your mind to. With Carver being born into slavery and with what he was able to make of himself, children will not only learn a lot but will also be inspired.
"A Weed is a Flower" is a children's book about the life of George Washington Carver. It covers important events from his entire life. The book explains Carver's curiosity throughout his childhood and how that led him to accomplish amazing things that contributed greatly to our world including his inventions using peanuts and sweet potatoes.
Evaluation:
This is a fun read for students who like nonfiction. The book is informative and an easy read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of George Washington Carver.
Teaching Point:
Because George Washinton Carver is a first and fifth-grade standard, this book is great for teaching about his life as well as his accomplishments. It also shares the important message that you can do anything that you set your mind to. With Carver being born into slavery and with what he was able to make of himself, children will not only learn a lot but will also be inspired.
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December 6, 2019Author and Illustrator: Aliki
Reading Level: 4.3
Book Level: Lower Grades
Summary: This book tells the story of George Washington Carver.
Classroom Use: In the classroom I would use this book to teach students about conventions and sentence fluency. This are combined to address a common issue in my classroom right now, run on sentences. This book is a great example of mixing simple and compound sentences to tell a story. For a lesson, I would remove punctuation from the writing and have students add punctuation where they believe it should go. After this, I would share the writing with punctuation and students would identify where they were different. This ties into sentence fluency because having different types of sentences makes writing easier to read. Students would evaluate a piece of their writing for different types of sentences.
Reading Level: 4.3
Book Level: Lower Grades
Summary: This book tells the story of George Washington Carver.
Classroom Use: In the classroom I would use this book to teach students about conventions and sentence fluency. This are combined to address a common issue in my classroom right now, run on sentences. This book is a great example of mixing simple and compound sentences to tell a story. For a lesson, I would remove punctuation from the writing and have students add punctuation where they believe it should go. After this, I would share the writing with punctuation and students would identify where they were different. This ties into sentence fluency because having different types of sentences makes writing easier to read. Students would evaluate a piece of their writing for different types of sentences.
December 7, 2018
Awards the book has received (if any): n/a
Appropriate grade level(s): 2nd-6th
Original summary: This biographical children's book tells the life story of George Washington Carver using detailed illustrations. Starting from his childhood and into adulthood, the reader will learn about his hobbies, goals, hardships and achievements.
Original review: This book is simple in its literary form, but informative and filled with detail. The illustrations bring George Washington Carver and the world around him to life.
1-2 possible in-class uses:
1) Can use when learning about historical figures.
2) Can read to class during Black History Month, or keep it on the shelves throughout the year.
Appropriate grade level(s): 2nd-6th
Original summary: This biographical children's book tells the life story of George Washington Carver using detailed illustrations. Starting from his childhood and into adulthood, the reader will learn about his hobbies, goals, hardships and achievements.
Original review: This book is simple in its literary form, but informative and filled with detail. The illustrations bring George Washington Carver and the world around him to life.
1-2 possible in-class uses:
1) Can use when learning about historical figures.
2) Can read to class during Black History Month, or keep it on the shelves throughout the year.
January 4, 2019
An awesome read aloud about Carver for young grades or a strong contender as read alone for older kids. I love the style of the book, focusing on the kindness and grit of the man. I also have always paired a Carver lesson in the library with food (because, duh, food!) and Carver is so famous for his work with peanuts, but he did the same things with sweet potatoes. With the number of nut allergies nowadays, I go for sweet potato pie, and this book will make that tie in easier. I have seen links to images of his actual pamphlets, I think I will show those as well.
October 11, 2018
A good, picture book introduction to George Washington Carver for children.
Ages: 4 - 8
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Ages: 4 - 8
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!
Visit my website!
April 26, 2021
Tells the highlights of George Washington Carver's life in a way that kids can easily understand without being dumbed down, which I appreciate. I'm personally not a fan of cartoonish/babyish drawings especially for a biography, but it's colorful.
Read this aloud to my 6 y.o. who got bored at some points, but overall liked learning about GWC.
Read this aloud to my 6 y.o. who got bored at some points, but overall liked learning about GWC.
November 11, 2024
Ever since I read a biography of George Washington Carver in elementary school, I've found him fascinating. This picture book is a good introduction to the man for young children. I enjoyed the classic 1960s illustrations.
February 12, 2019
Biography. Good retelling of George Washington Carver's life. Begins from the time he is born and follows him throughout his whole life. This picture book has quite a few words so would be ideal for grades 2+
April 17, 2019
This a very important mulit-culture book to have in the classroom for young children. This book about a man who is a slave and trying to better the argraculture around him. A great stroy for children to read about and is educational as well.
June 8, 2024
Biography. 3rd -6th grade. I knew very little about George Washington Carver. I'm really glad I read this and would like to read more about him, his life, and his inventions. I will plan to use this book during the unit on inventors and inventions in my classroom.
January 10, 2019
A truly inspiring book about GWC which is simple enough to engage very young readers, but make an impact on older ones as well.
March 6, 2020
I want to plant a garden and name if after this man.
I want all of our students to read this book and be inspired to work in a garden.
I want all of our students to read this book and be inspired to work in a garden.
December 23, 2020
The life of George Washington Carver as he cultivated a love of agriculture and science and eventually became a famous scientist in the United States.
July 30, 2021
The books is a good took to show scholars that hard work pays off. Follow your passion and success will follow.
February 8, 2023
I enjoyed this story of George Washington Carver's life, and I was pleased with the length for a picture book.
March 13, 2023
This is a great overview of George Washington Carver's life.
November 7, 2023
Beautifully illustrated and written. Great for young children and adults alike.
February 29, 2024
We all really enjoyed this.
March 18, 2025
I love this book about George Washington Carver. What an amazing man who loved plants and found over 100 ways to use the peanut in everyday life. There should be more about him in schools.
May 23, 2025
Beautifully illustrated. Wonderful story.
July 14, 2017
I thought this was a good introduction to George Washington Carver. I would be interested in learning more about him. I don't know if he ever got married. He seemed to devote his life to science and helping others with his knowledge.
April 9, 2014
I like the title of this book--"A Weed is a Flower..." This lets me know that something good can come from something that is a nuisance. I also read this 29 page book because it's from a Greek author & illustrator named Aliki. I was interested to read about a black man's life from an Greek point of view.
I never knew that George Washington Carver was named after the slave master Moses Carver. These are the kinds of details that make certain books stand out from the rest. George and his mother were kidnapped by slave raiders one night. The slave master Moses Carver had someone find George but George's mom was never found.
George grew up to be such a smart boy that even the white neighbors called him "The Plant Doctor." George left home at age 10 & hung out around schools. Since he was dirt poor, he paid his room & board by doing odd jobs. At age 30, George finally had enough money saved for college but he had to find a college that would enroll Blacks. As time went on, George went back to his first love: plants. I like this quote made by George: "A weed is a flower growing in the wrong place." George got a job at Tuskegee Institute.
Proof of the impact that George had on Alabama, was that he convinced many farmers to plant peanuts & sweet potatoes instead of cotton. Today, these are 2 of the most important crops in Alabama!
George was offered so much money, much of which he turned down AND he met with White Presidents which says volumes about his impact. But George mostly wanted to help people & discover new uses for plants.
--------------------
There are so many aspects about this book that you can cover.
You can have students make a semantic map about their favorite food product & then draw bubble circles that contain the uses for that particular product. For example, if a student's favorite food was the orange, s/he would draw all the things made from the orange: juice, cakes, deodorizer, etc.
I never knew that George Washington Carver was named after the slave master Moses Carver. These are the kinds of details that make certain books stand out from the rest. George and his mother were kidnapped by slave raiders one night. The slave master Moses Carver had someone find George but George's mom was never found.
George grew up to be such a smart boy that even the white neighbors called him "The Plant Doctor." George left home at age 10 & hung out around schools. Since he was dirt poor, he paid his room & board by doing odd jobs. At age 30, George finally had enough money saved for college but he had to find a college that would enroll Blacks. As time went on, George went back to his first love: plants. I like this quote made by George: "A weed is a flower growing in the wrong place." George got a job at Tuskegee Institute.
Proof of the impact that George had on Alabama, was that he convinced many farmers to plant peanuts & sweet potatoes instead of cotton. Today, these are 2 of the most important crops in Alabama!
George was offered so much money, much of which he turned down AND he met with White Presidents which says volumes about his impact. But George mostly wanted to help people & discover new uses for plants.
--------------------
There are so many aspects about this book that you can cover.
You can have students make a semantic map about their favorite food product & then draw bubble circles that contain the uses for that particular product. For example, if a student's favorite food was the orange, s/he would draw all the things made from the orange: juice, cakes, deodorizer, etc.
October 22, 2015
When George Washington Carver was born, no one looked at that sickly little baby and thought “He’s going to be a great scientist.” Why would they? He was small, he was sick and he was born a slave.
When he was still a baby, men stole him and his mother away from the Carvers. Moses Carver, the man who owned George and his mother, sent someone to look for them. He found the baby, but not the baby’s mother. Moses and Susan, his wife, took care of George and his siblings.
They noticed that George wansn’t like the other children and it wasn’t just because he was small or sick. He asked questions about absolutely everything that he saw. He wanted to know about rain and flowers and even insects. He planted a garden. When plants didn’t thrive, George worked to find out why. Before long, the neighbors were asking this boy that they called the Plant Doctor about their own plants.
Although slaves had been freed, there were no schools nearby for their freed children. When he was 10 George left everything behind in search of a school. He could have been a painter but George wanted to help people so he studied agriculture, he worked with plants.
I have to admit that when I requested this from my local library, I was expecting a picture book. Maybe it was the cover. I don’t know. Then I picked it up and saw that it was small for a picture book, basically early reader sized. Did I run the text through an analyzer? No, because I don’t have time to type it out. Suffice it to say that it is long for a picture book and, unlike many of the youngest early readers, it isn’t divided into chapters.
That said if you have a young reader who is fascinated by science or plants or George Washington Carver, share this fact filled book with them. You’ll both be glad that you did.
First reviewed on The Bookshelf: What We're Reading
When he was still a baby, men stole him and his mother away from the Carvers. Moses Carver, the man who owned George and his mother, sent someone to look for them. He found the baby, but not the baby’s mother. Moses and Susan, his wife, took care of George and his siblings.
They noticed that George wansn’t like the other children and it wasn’t just because he was small or sick. He asked questions about absolutely everything that he saw. He wanted to know about rain and flowers and even insects. He planted a garden. When plants didn’t thrive, George worked to find out why. Before long, the neighbors were asking this boy that they called the Plant Doctor about their own plants.
Although slaves had been freed, there were no schools nearby for their freed children. When he was 10 George left everything behind in search of a school. He could have been a painter but George wanted to help people so he studied agriculture, he worked with plants.
I have to admit that when I requested this from my local library, I was expecting a picture book. Maybe it was the cover. I don’t know. Then I picked it up and saw that it was small for a picture book, basically early reader sized. Did I run the text through an analyzer? No, because I don’t have time to type it out. Suffice it to say that it is long for a picture book and, unlike many of the youngest early readers, it isn’t divided into chapters.
That said if you have a young reader who is fascinated by science or plants or George Washington Carver, share this fact filled book with them. You’ll both be glad that you did.
First reviewed on The Bookshelf: What We're Reading
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews