Author/Illustrator: Carole Boston Weatherford/Kadir Nelson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: Caldecott Honor Award
Age Level: 5+ years old
Summary: Harriet is strong in her faith and uses God to be her comfort and peace of the night. She devises a plan to escape with an ax to chop wood and consistently asks God to keep her eyes steady on him. She then begins to chant a song in hopes that her loved ones here her so they can leave and begin on their way to freedom. Harriet traces through swamps and woods with her heart pounding land asking God if she was doing the right thing. She falls into a deep sleep in the underbrush with Gods hand resting upon her and protecting her. Once she finds her way out, she prays to God asking him to lead her to protection, and to the house that she can trust to be safe. She passes men on wagons and boatman's rowing praying to be led to freedom. She is tired and weary from the journey. As she continues to find a stopping place, she finds the holy ground along the Underground Railroad for slaves to travel to freedom. Harriet finds the safe haven and returns to the South to retrieve and rescue her family. This is when God calls her to be the Moses of her people. Being a woman of God, she leads her family to safety. This fictional story depicts the spiritual journey of Harriet Tubman.
Illustrations captivate the entire page and the background colors seem like they were "powdered" on. The colors are mostly warm colors and the texts strays from page to page. Texts even wrap around images to encompass the focused illustration.
This book could be a great read-aloud option in my classroom before the social studies unit involving the Underground Railroad and slavery. Students could use the Author's Note in the back for researching the subject further.
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