Charles Drew:

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Scientists & Inventors

by Mike Venezia

Meet Dr. Charles Drew! Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists series combines a delightful mix of full-color historical reproductions, photos, and hilarious cartoon-style illustrations that bring to life the work and contributions of renowned scientists and inventors, combining poignant anecdotes with important factual information for readers (Ages 8-9).This book presents life of the doctor who conducted research on the properties and preservation of blood plasma and was a leader in establishing blood banks.

Genres: Science, History, Biography, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Vivian]

This is a great example of why I am a fan of biographies written for children. They afford me the opportunity to meet great people who have made contributions to all our lives that we take completely for granted. In this case the subtitle makes a good case -- Charles Drew: Doctor Who Got the World Pumped Up to Donate Blood.

What a powerful person this man was. Not only did he make huge discoveries and contributions, but he did this whilst overcoming the obstacle of being black in a segregated and openly prejudiced America.

[Tammie]

blood
inquiry
character
gr1-5

Great book on the scientist responsible for pioneering blood handling, storage. Funny and engaging book. Can be used for teaching about blood. Good book for teaching about nature of science and science inquiry.

Nature of Science
SKCS6. Students will understand the important features of the process of scientific inquiry.
Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices:
a. In doing science, it is often helpful to work with a team and to share findings with others.
b. Tools such as rulers, magnifiers, and balance scales often give more information about things than can be obtained by just observing things without help.
c. Much can be learned about plants and animals by observing them closely, but care must be taken to know the needs of living things and how to provide for them (classroom pets).

[Matthew]

Maybe it was because I sadly did not know about Drew before reading this book but I found this Venezia profile book superb. It detailed Drew's work with mastering blood donations and storage of blood as well as did a great job of explaining the segregated US in which he lived. Particularly eyeopening was finding out that during the Second World War the US military segregated blood by race.

[Hascoorats]

Isaac says:
It's pretty good. It's about Charles Drew's life. He was an athlete and did football, swimming and track. He went to medical school and got interested in blood. He discovered how to store blood plasma that everyone could use.

[Miriam]

biography with humor/comics