Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Peach’s Picks Rating:

 

Year of publication: 2006

City of publication: New York

Publisher: Jump At the Sun: Hyperion Books for Children

ISBN: 0-7868-5175-9

Author website: http://www.caroleweatherford.com/

Illustrator website: http://www.kadirnelson.com/

Media used for illustrations: Oil and water color paintings

Annotation: A fictional story based on events of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and her subsequent journeys back to the South to free hundreds of slaves, including her family, during the mid 1800s.

Personal reaction to the book: This picturebook is a fictional version of Harriet Tubman’s life. She was a slave who escaped to Philadelphia in search of freedom. The story begins the night she decides to run away. The reader is introduced to Tubman as she sits outdoors on a dark night, praying and talking to God. Tubman’s escape is successful. She finds herself in Philadelphia, but soon realizes that personal freedom is not fulfilling when others are still enslaved. So Tubman becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad and time and time again returns to the south to guide others to freedom. The book is written in free verse as a dialogue between Tubman and God, with God speaking directly to Harriet in the form of a poem. This poem, independent of the story, stands on its own merit as a work of literature reminiscent of scripture. The powerful and expressive illustrations are painted in earth tones and cover two-page spreads. The text is printed on the illustrations, but does not distract from them. The color palette is especially dark when Tubman is in danger and filled with light when she feels hopeful or is safe. Tubman’s face is particularly striking in each illustration. The reader can see her fear, her determination, and her hope. A forward is included that discusses slavery in the United States. An author’s note gives biographical information about Harriet Tubman. This book reads aloud well and can easily be shared with a large group.

General curricular connections:

• Harriet Tubman
• Slavery
• Underground Railroad
• Biography / Women
• African American women
• Underground Railroad

Specific example of curricular connection matched to State Standards:
Subject: History
Grade level: 8

Standards:

California State Standards

History – Social Studies Content Standards for Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade 12

Grade 8 United States History: Growth and Conflict

8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

1. Describe the leaders of the movement (e.g., John Quincy Adams and his proposed constitutional amendment, John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).

Recommended grade levels:

School Library Journal recommends this book for use with grades 2-5

Booklist recommends this book for use with grades 1-3

Peach’s Picks recommends this book for use with grades 2-9

Awards/Recognitions:

Horn Book starred review

Publishers Weekly starred review

School Library Journal starred review

ALA Notable Children's Books, Middle Readers, 2007

Caldecott Honor, 2007

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award Winner, 2007

Note: This book is included in Assignment 2.

This book was included in the LIBR 271A category “Other books receiving Top Ten votes, Summer 2009.”

Simile: Page 1; “I am Your child, Lord; yet Master owns me, drives me like a mule.”

Simile: Page 22; “She recalls dreams where she flew like a bird…”

Simile: Page; 26; “…Harriet rises from that hole like a sapling…”

Metaphor: Page 1; “God speaks in a whip-poor-will’s song.”

Metaphor: Page 1; “God wraps her in the blanket of night…”

Metaphor: Page 14; “In a dust cloud, she sees the broom become a staff, then a rifle.”

Allusion: Page 35; “Canaanland” is a Biblical allusion to the Promised Land

Allusion: Title of the book Moses, alluding to the Biblical character, Moses, who led his people to freedom.

Book cover picture retrieved from http://www.caroleweatherford.com/books.htm