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

Citation: Weatherford, C. B. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.


Book Summary: This book tells the story of Harriet Tubman's spiritual journey as she escaped from slavery and helped others escape as well.  The book narrates Tubman's possible conversations with God, asking him to give her signs and watch over her as she planned her escape.  After her escape, she thinks of her family and decides she must go back for them.  The last page compares her to Moses because they both led their people to freedom. 

My Impressions: The line where Harriet Tubman says she would rather die than live as a slave really made an impact on me.  Too often, we take our freedoms for granted.  I can't imagine being enslaved for my entire life, but I don't know if I would have been as brave as Tubman was to try to escape.  The pictures in this book are beautiful and help show what Tubman's life was probably life as a slave and during her escape.  The pictures get dark during her escape as a visual reminder that Tubman had to be very secretive and stay out of sight. 

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, February). [Review of the book Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom, by C.B. Weatherford] . Horn Book Magazine, 82(6), 737-738. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/horn-book-magazine/.

Library Uses: This would be a good book to use during a story time, especially during Black History Month.