Module 5: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom - Other Award Winners

Book Summary:

This is the story of Harriet Tubman and how she escaped from slavery and her journey to freedom.  She was a very spiritual woman who prayed and listened for guidance from God.  She knew that He protected her and provided the way for her and her family members to be free.  The first journey was the most difficult because she was alone, but she knew that she would be protected until she reached safety.  She made nineteen trips to help other slaves find freedom away from slavery.  She was modern day Moses as she led people to their freedom.

APA Reference:

Weatherford, C.B. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. NewYork, NY: Hyperion.

Impression:

It was refreshing to read a book where the main character is a spiritual person and had a personal relationship with God.  She listened to his promptings and knew the moment when the timing was right to escape to freedom.  The illustrations enhance the lyrical text and bring a feeling of peace and hope into the story.  There is one painting where she is sleeping in a field and she is being watched over by the animals.  This was a beautiful illustration of her faith that God would not leave her alone.  When she obtained her freedom, she knew that it would not be compete freedom without her family, so she once again prays for guidance and is given strength and courage to return for her family and friends.

Professional Review:

Weatherford’s poetic telling of Harriet Tubman’s role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad combines with Nelson’s larger-than-life illustrations to portray the spiritual life of the African American visionary. The story takes readers from Tubman’s early days as a slave, through her decision to escape, and into her life as a free person who detested the institution of slavery so vehemently that she returned to the South nineteen times to free some three hundred slaves, including her family members. Weatherford uses three different narrative voices to explore Tubman’s relationship with God: a third-person narrator, telling of her life and trials; the voice of Harriet herself, who (in an italicized font) speaks her doubts and pleas directly to God; and God’s words to Harriet—“HARRIET, I WILL MAKE A WAY FOR YOU”—set in large, translucent type. The interaction between these narrative voices makes clear that it was Tubman’s strong faith that sustained her on the freedom journeys so dramatically evoked in Nelson’s richly atmospheric nightscapes. Several key scenes bring Harriet in close visual proximity to the reader to emphasize both her emotional turmoil and her strength. Moses offers a visual and literary experience of Tubman’s life on a par with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty.

Martin, M. H. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. Horn Book Magazine, 82(6), 737-738.

Library Uses:

This book could be used in a library book display or could be paired with other books to be used during Black History Month in February. During the month books and other library materials could be used and found to help celebrate the contributions that African Americans have made to American history in their struggles for freedom and equality and deepens our understanding of our Nation's history.