Deborah Hopkinson - Who Was Charles Darwin?

By Deborah Hopkinson

Illustrated by Nancy Harrison

Grosset & Dunlap

For my wonderful and curious son, Dimitri, who loves to ask questionsjust like Charles DarwinD.H.

To my sisters, for their unwavering belief that anything is possible and always cheering me onN.H.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Delbert Hutchison, Assistant Professor of Biology, Whitman College, for sharing his enthusiasm about Charles Darwin and making helpful suggestions on the manuscript. Any errors are my own.

GROSSET & DUNLAP

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Text copyright 2005 by Deborah Hopkinson. Illustrations copyright 2005 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Printed in the U.S.A.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hopkinson, Deborah.

Who was Charles Darwin? / by Deborah Hopkinson; illustrated by Nancy Harrison.

p. cm. (Who was?)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN: 978-1-101-63993-1

I. Darwin, Charles, 18091882Juvenile literature. 2. NaturalistsEnglandBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Harrison, Nancy, 1963 ill. II. Title. III. Series.

QH31.D2H766 2005

576.82092dc22

2004021503

20 19 18 17 16

Charles Darwin took a five-year trip around the world on a ship called the Beagle, but he liked staying home best of all. He lived in a small English village where he raised pigeons, played with his children, and puttered in his garden.

Although he lived a quiet life, Charles Darwin started a revolutiona revolution of thought.

People have always wondered how life on Earth began. When Charles Darwin lived, most people in Europe and America believed God created the entire world in six days, just as it says in the Bible. But Charles Darwin was not most people. The Beagle voyage taught him to be a true scientistto look closely at nature, question everything, and think in a new way about how life on Earth started. He showed how living things could naturally change, or evolve, over a long period of time.

Was Charles Darwin a genius? He didnt think so. Charles thought of himself as simply a scientist. And like all good scientists, Charles was curiousso curious he was never afraid to ask hard questionsand he looked for answers based on what he saw.

Charles Darwin knew his ideas would shock people. They did. Yet today scientists accept evolution as a fact. Charles Darwin is as important as ever.

Charles Darwin changed history. How did he do it?

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, a small village in England. His family was well-off. His father was a respected, successful doctor. His mother, Susanna, was a daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, who owned a famous china factory.

The Darwins lived in a large house called The Mount. It was near the River Severn.

Charles loved his home. Even as a boy he was curious about nature. He spent hours in the family garden. Once, his father asked Charles to count the peony blossoms in the garden.

Charles counted 384 flowers! Already Charles was learning to look carefully at nature.

Charles liked climbing trees, watching birds, and taking walks. He played and fished on the banks of the river. Best of all, Charles loved collecting. He collected stones, pebbles, and bird eggs. (He made sure to take only one egg from each nest.) When he wasnt exploring or collecting, Charles curled up with a book.

Charless mother died in 1817, when he was only eight. His three older sisters and older brother stepped in to help care for Charles and his little sister, Catherine.

During this time in England, many boys were sent to live at school. When Charles was nine, his father sent him to nearby Shrewsbury School. Charles hated it. He didnt like sleeping in the crowded dormitory. He wasnt good at memorizing. Whenever Charles had to learn a poem, hed forget it two days later.

Charles also missed home. He was very close with his older brother Erasmus. He was glad his school was only a mile away. Sometimes in the evening Charles would sneak out.