In this light-hearted narrative, delightfully illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, with floating cars and tipping his hats, Henry Ford is revealed as a man convinced that some plant or other could be farmed and transformed into material that could become raw materials for industry. He invested in building a laboratory surrounded by fields and found Robert Boyer, a chemist who recognized Ford's vision for vegetables. Voila! The soybean-- full of oil and protein, with the possibility that it could be cooked up into something useful for his automobile plants.
What could that be? I'm not going to be a spoiler and tell you the story-- read Full of Beans to be charmed, read it to discover how men of vision imagine what others can't see, read it to see how life interrupts the inventive process and that ultimately, it prevails.
The format of this books contains an entertaining story but the back matter enhances the story with information about Henry Ford as and inventor/ innovator and his impact on the agriculture of soybeans, turning it into the second most-grown group. There are hands-on activities in the back-matter so you can eat a cracker made from soy bean flour and create your own plastic from soy-bean oil.
I LOVE books like Full of Beans, because it is so interdisciplinary. Peggy Thomas has written a piece of literature for children that includes a narrative story about an amusing and eccentric character, a slice of history, and hands-on activities by examining an aspect of an man you probably never knew had his roots as a farmer.
Please plant Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Card in your home or classroom library.
Release date: October 15, 2019