Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas

Gr 3-6 -An attractive picture-book biography, this slim, oversize volume is as much a treat for the eye as it is for the curious mind. Smith -s crisp, realistic paintings, often flooded with the bright green of pea plants, accompany Bardoe -s readable text describing a scientist whose physical and educational needs led him to the religious life, but whose curiosity about inherited traits caused him to become the -father - of genetics. Bright diagrams clearly depict Mendel -s famous plants, the internal arrangement of their seeds, and the results of carefully controlled experiments in cross-breeding with certain traits firmly in mind. An extensive author -s note presents further information. This eye-catching picture-book biography falls nicely into a field that already includes the complexities of Peter Sí s -s fascinating "The Tree of Life" (Farrar, 2003), Michael Dooling -s handsome "Young Thomas Edison" (Holiday House, 2005), James Cross Giblin -s eloquent "Thomas Jefferson" (Scholastic, l994), and Diane Stanley -s attractive "Leonardo da Vinci" (Morrow, 1996)." -Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY" Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.