Module 5: Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

Book Summary: This book tells the story of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery in Maryland to freedom in Philadelphia. It describes the hardships she faces along the way and mostly gives an idea of her conversations with God during the journey that kept her going when things seemed too difficult. The book also contains a brief introduction to the concept of slavery in the United States and a biography of Tubman's life.

APA Reference of Book: Weatherford, C. B., & Nelson, K. (2006). Moses: when Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Impressions: Reading this book is almost like looking at a collection of art. The illustrations are beautiful and the text is moving. The first thing I noticed was how the text varies in size and format. Rather than demarcating dialogue with quotation marks and paragraphs, size and font variation show a change in the type of text. For example, the messages from God are typically in a large, flowing type that often works its way through the images. The writing style is beautiful and poetic and gives a haunting feel to the heroic story. I very much enjoyed this book and thought it was very engaging.
 
Professional Review:
Weatherford's handsome picture book about Harriet Tubman focuses mostly on Tubman's religious inspiration, with echoes of spirituals ringing throughout the spare poetry about her struggle ("Lord, don't let nobody turn me 'round"). God cradles Tubman and talks with her; his words (printed in block capitals) both inspire her and tell her what to do ("SHED YOUR SHOES; WADE IN THE WATER TO TRICK THE DOGS"). Nelson's stirring, beautiful artwork makes clear the terror and exhaustion Tubman felt during her own escape and also during her brave rescue of others. There's no romanticism: the pictures are dark, dramatic, and deeply colored--whether showing the desperate young fugitive "crouched for days in a potato hole" or the tough middle-aged leader frowning at the band of runaways she's trying to help. The full-page portrait of a contemplative Tubman turning to God to help her guide her people is especially striking.
 Rochman, H. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Booklist, 102(22), 81.

Library Uses: Since this is a fairly short book dealing with slavery, it could easily be used in a story time for older children during Black History Month or for any time that children might be learning about slavery.