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

Book Cover Image:


Book Summary:
This book is about Harriet Tubman's journey to freedom. She escapes from her plantation in Maryland and makes it to freedom in Philadelphia. From there she puts her plan into place and returns to danger and saves other slaves and brings them also to freedom. Throughout the book Harriet communicates with God and asks for his wisdom and guidance. 

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

Impressions:
A moving story that recounts Harriet Tubman's story through her eyes. It is written like a poem and when God speaks to her His words appear across the page as a script in big letters. The illustrations are very big and the images are very pronounced. They almost appear to be 3-D. The book ends on a positive note, and I enjoyed the fact that the author includes a interesting and useful biographical note about Harriet Tubman at the end of the book .

Professional Review:
Gr 2-5-- Tubman's religious faith drives this handsome, poetic account of her escape to freedom and role in the Underground Railroad. The story begins with Tubman addressing God on a summer night as she is about to be sold south from the Maryland plantation where she and her husband live: "I am Your child, Lord; yet Master owns me,/drives me like a mule." In resounding bold text, God tells her He means for her to be free. The story is sketched between passages of prayerful dialogue that keep Tubman from giving up and eventually call upon her to be "the Moses of [her] people." Deep scenes of night fill many double pages as the dramatic paintings follow her tortuous journey, arrival in Philadelphia, and later trip to guide others. Shifting perspectives and subtle details, such as shadowy forest animals guarding her while she sleeps, underscore the narrative's spirituality. Whether filled with apprehension, determination, or serenity, Tubman's beautifully furrowed face is expressive and entrancing. A foreword briefly explains the practice of slavery and an appended note outlines Tubman's life. The words and pictures create a potent sense of the harsh life of slavery, the fearsome escape, and one woman's unwavering belief in God.

Bush, M. (2006, October 1). [Review of book Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford]. School Library Journal, 52(10), 129-130. Retrieved from www.slj.com

 
Library Uses:
I would recommend using this book for story time theater to celebrate Black History Month. Hariett Tubman is a good role model, and students can dress up and read her spoken parts from the book and others can play the part of slaves rescued by Tubman.