• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

In 1841, a 12-year-old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius, made history when he discovered how to hand-pollinate vanilla plants using a bamboo twig.

Until that time, only bees in Mexico could pollinate the plant—botanists couldn’t figure out another way. With his mentor, Edmond travelled around Réunion Island to share his technique, le geste d’Edmonde (Edmond’s gesture), which is still in use today. Despite his important achievement, as an enslaved person Edmond didn’t receive payment or recognition for his contribution to science, eventually dying in poverty after being freed from slavery in 1848. Today it is recognized that Edmond’s method of pollination was key to bringing vanilla to the world, helped to create a billion-dollar industry and gave us the flavor we love to use in cooking, baking, medicine and, of course, ice cream.

Ann Richards is a Jamaican Canadian writer from Brampton, Ontario. She enjoys studying and writing about different cultures and has always wanted to write books about African history. One day she plans to visit Ghana’s Elmina slave castle, and its Door of No Return, to research more stories. Ann has written for the London Free Press and Tekawennake News. The True Story of Vanilla is Ann’s debut book.

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Arden Taylor is a freelance illustrator residing in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated Sheridan College with an Honours Bachelor of Illustration. She enjoys working with beautiful color palettes to create visually appealing, fun and sophisticated graphic illustrations of architecture, people, wallpaper, patterns and more. Her clients include Hazlitt Magazine and the California Institute of Technology. Arden's work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, advertising campaigns and websites. The Kids Book of Black History in Canada is her first book.

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