Book Descriptions
for Rooting for Plants by Janice N. Harrington and Theodore Taylor, III
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Charles Parker loved nature as a child. As a young man, he served overseas during World War I and returned home to the Pacific Northwest deeply moved by both the loss of human life and the destruction of forests and plants he’d witnessed in the war. He went to school to study botany and began cataloging numerous plants of the Pacific Northwest. He also developed a method to preserve plants. Parker was hired by Howard University, where he loved teaching—and was a beloved teacher—and encouraging young Black people to become scientists. He also continued his fieldwork, exploring and chronicling plants region by region in the United States, always asking questions, and encouraging his students to do the same. The back matter of this picture book biography includes a biographical essay, a timeline, and brief profiles of other Black scientists. (Ages 6-9)
CCBC Choices 2024. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2024. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
Meet Charles S. Parker, an unsung yet trailblazing Black scientist who made major contributions to the fields of botany (the study of plants) and mycology (the study of fungi) in this inspiring STEM/STEAM picture book biography from the creators of Buzzing with Questions.
In 1882, Black botanist and mycologist Charles S. Parker sprouted up in the lush, green Pacific Northwest. From the beginning, Charles’s passion was plants, and he trudged through forests, climbed mountains, and waded into lakes to find them. When he was drafted to fight in World War I, Charles experienced prejudice against Black soldiers and witnessed the massive ecological devastation that war caused. Those experiences made him even more determined to follow his dreams, whatever the difficulties, and to have a career making things grow, not destroying them.
As a botanist and teacher, Charles traveled the United States, searching for new species of plants and fungi. After discovering the source of the disease killing peach and apricot trees, Charles was offered a job at Howard University, the famed historically Black college where he taught the next generation of Black scientists—men and women—to love plants and fungi as much as he did.
In 1882, Black botanist and mycologist Charles S. Parker sprouted up in the lush, green Pacific Northwest. From the beginning, Charles’s passion was plants, and he trudged through forests, climbed mountains, and waded into lakes to find them. When he was drafted to fight in World War I, Charles experienced prejudice against Black soldiers and witnessed the massive ecological devastation that war caused. Those experiences made him even more determined to follow his dreams, whatever the difficulties, and to have a career making things grow, not destroying them.
As a botanist and teacher, Charles traveled the United States, searching for new species of plants and fungi. After discovering the source of the disease killing peach and apricot trees, Charles was offered a job at Howard University, the famed historically Black college where he taught the next generation of Black scientists—men and women—to love plants and fungi as much as he did.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
