George Washington Carver was born a slave in January 1860 on the Moses Carver plantation in Diamond Grove, Missouri. He spent the first year of his life, the brutal days of the Border War, between Missouri and neighboring Kansas. George was a very ill child, suffering from whooping cough, which later led to a speech impediment, and he was small and frail. George's father, James Carver, died one day in a lumber-hauling accident while bringing wood to his master's house. George was very ill during his early years. In 1861, when George was one year old, raiders kidnapped him and his mother, along with horses, from their Missouri home. Moses Carver, Mary's master, heard that a bushwhacker named Bentley knew where Mary and little George were. Moses gave him 40 acres of his best timberland and Pacer, one of his best horses. Bentley accepted the offer and pursued him to Arkansas. Bentley returned only a few days later with young George in a bundle and no sign of Mary. A few years later, in the spring, little George was in the woods digging dirt. When someone was sick, George collected roots, herbs and bark which he boiled to make medicine. Carver became a student of life and a scholar, despite illness and frailty in his early childhood. As he was not strong enough to work in the fields, he helped with household chores and gardening. It was probably because of these tasks and the hours he spent exploring the woods around his home that he developed a keen interest in plants early on. Neighbors called George the plant doctor because he made house calls in Diamond Grove to prescribe for diseased plants. George had his own mini garden where he tended diseased plants middle of paper......he helped make and discovered many different uses for items like peanuts and sweet potatoes. This book was very vivid in its description of all the difficulties, hard work, and efforts that George Washington Carver put into his research. I learned that George was very dedicated to his research and he proved this in many ways. George donated his entire estate to enable his research to continue, which requires me to strive to do better for myself. Overall, this book gave me a true role model that I could strive to be like. I realized while reading the book that George never gave up, no matter how many people fought him. I also learned that just because you're slow or have a disability doesn't mean you're not smart. Now I know to believe in myself and not let others put me down or put me down and for his contributions I am grateful. Number of words: 1247