Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table

Summary of Book

Will Allen is no ordinary farmer. A former basketball star, he's as tall as his truck, and he can hold a cabbage--or a basketball--in one hand. But what is most special about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can't see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee he saw a huge table, big enough to feed the whole world.

No space, no problem. Poor soil, there's a solution. Need help, found it. Farmer Will is a genius in solving problems. In 2008, the MacArthur Foundation named him one for his innovative urban farming methods, including aquaponics and hydroponics.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin, author of the Caldecott Medal winner, Snowflake Bentley, and Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious , along with debut artist Eric-Shabazz Larkin's striking artwork, tells the inspiring story of the African American innovator, educator, and community builder.

Farmer Will Allen is the first book of Martin's Food Heroes series, followed by Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious. In 2015, it was selected by Points of Light Foundation to set a new Guinness World Record for the most children reading the same book across the globe to promote literacy. Nearly 300,000 participated.

Author Biography

Jacqueline Briggs Martin's many children's books include Snowflake Bentley, winner of the Caldecott Medal, and Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious, a School Library Journal "starred" review book. She grew up on a farm in Maine and now lives in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

Illustrator Biography

Eric-Shabazz Larkin was born an artist and illustrator, but developed his leadership style and creative entrepreneurship through his years in the advertising industry. He has an unusual career in this regard; an art director by trade, he's been known to wear many hats in the creative process--artist, writer, designer, illustrator, director, composer and award-winning poet.

He was raised in Norfolk, Virginia, with three other siblings. He's lived in Kenya, Portland, Seattle, London and now, New York City. The places he's lived have shaped how he sees the world and why his work reflects so much diversity. Larkin studied art in high school, but attributes much of his technique to his career in advertising as an art director. This is where his affinity for big type and bold color comes from in his paintings and illustrations.

"My favorite thing about being an artist is that there are no walls in the house of creativity."