SLIS
5420 Module 5 Other Awards
Moses: When Harriet Tubman led
her people to Freedom
By
Carole Boston Weatherford
Bibliography
Weatherford,
C. B. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her people to freedom. New
York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.
Summary
Harriet
Tubman escapes slavery and as she moves through her journey, she prays to God
and he speaks to her every step of the way encouraging her to continue on. When she reaches freedom in Philadelphia, she
wants to see her family and God tells her to go to church first where he
discovers the Underground Railroad and is able to return and free her family
and others.
Review
Brodie,
C. S. (2008, November). Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to
Freedom. School Library Monthly, 24(6), 53-55.
The book Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led
Her People to Freedom was written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated
by Kadir Nelson (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion, 2006). It won a 2007 Caldecort Honor
Award and a 2007 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. It was also a New
York Times Bestseller, received an NAACP Image Award, and was on the starred
review list for Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and
The Horn Book. It was also on numerous "best books of the year" lists
for 2006. This much honored book is
written in elegant free verse and describes how Harriet Tubman's religious
faith was her inspiration and guide. Many luminous, detailed, dramatic
paintings illustrate Harriet's determined journey. Harriet Tubman became
"The Conductor" of the Underground Railroad, and she led more than
300 slaves, including her own parents, to freedom. As Weatherford noted in her
book, she never lost a passenger.
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to
Freedom. (2006, Decemebr 1). Kirkus Reviews, 74(23),
22-24.
I think God calls ordinary people, and when
they heed the call, they become extraordinary," says Carol Boston
Weatherford, the daughter and wife of ministers. "Some times, people
decide to stand up when they've lost everything but faith." Moses, the
story of Harriet Tubman's transition from slave to a conductor of the
Underground Railroad (where she carried hundreds to safety in the North), tells
just such a story in an elegant call-and-response exchange between Tubman and
her God. The story of Tubman's devotion and courage are matched by unflinching,
loving illustrations from Kadir Nelson. "I first learned of Harriet Tubman
while a student at a segregated elementary school in Baltimore," says
Weatherford. "I identified with her because she was a larger-than-life
woman. During her treks on the Underground Railroad, she possessed enough
courage for her entire band of runaways. That's why she never lost a
passenger."
My thoughts
The illustrations are dark because she travels
mostly at night. The words of God are
always in a bigger font and a different color which was effective in showing
the spiritual way she looks at Him.
Uses
for the library
This
could be used as an introduction for Black History Month.
Los Gatos Black on Halloween
By
Marisa Montes
Bibliography
Montes,
M. (2006). Los gatos black on Halloween. New York, NY: Henry Holt and
company.
Summary
Creepy
Halloween creatures make their way to a haunted mansion for a party only to be
frightened by kids knocking on the door to yell “Trick-orTreat!” Written in rhyming pattern using Spanish
words inserted with the English word used every other line.
Reviews
Fleishhacker,
J. (2006, September). Los Gatos Black on Halloween. School Library Journal,
52(9), 180.
Montes
smoothly incorporates Spanish terms into a rhythmic poem describing a moonlit
Halloween night. Los
esqueletos rattle bones and clatter in a dance, los fantasmas "drag their
chains" and "shriek their pains," and los muertos
emerge from their graves to join other creatures at a haunted casa for music
and dancing. However, the party stops dead with the arrival of
trick-or-treaters, which causes the frightened spooks to hide, for "The
thing that monsters most abhor/Are human niños at the door!" The
full-bleed paintings create a creepy mood with curving lines, fluid textures,
and dusky hues. Rounded figures dance across the atmospheric spreads, which
depict blank-faced skeletons, a toothy werewolf, and a child zombie with
glowing eyes. The pictures are eerie enough to tingle spines, but the effect is
leavened with bits of humor (witches perform skateboard tricks on their brooms,
a vampire admires himself in a mirror that reflects only his clothing). The
poem's cadenced rhymes and descriptive language build suspense until the
satisfying ending. Spanish words are easy to understand in context, but are
also defined in a glossary with pronunciation guides. This book is just right
for children who are beginning to find typical Halloween fare a bit too tame.
LOS
GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN. (2006, August 15). Kirkus Reviews, 74(16),
848.
Montes's
vivid poem, replete with the appropriate creepiness, describes all of the
usual--and some not-so-usual--Halloween suspects. Under the full moon, los gatos slink,
yowl and hiss. Las brujas fly on their brooms. Los esqueletos rattle their bones.
Pumpkins burn, mummies stalk, the wolfman prowls, the dead rise and ghouls and
zombies march across the pages, all parading toward a haunted mansion for a
monstrous ball. Eerie music resonates throughout the night, and all of the
creatures begin to waltz, boogie and bop--until tres loud raps ("Rap! Rap!
Rap!") sound at the door. Who could it be? Not children trick-or-treatin!
Suddenly the creatures vanish. Nothing scares a monster more than human niños,
particularly on Halloween. Spanish words, perfectly defined by context, flow
smoothly throughout the atmospheric, rhymed text and are officially defined in
an accessible glossary at the story's end. Morales's dark, glowing pictures of
inventively proportioned ghosts and other sinister night creatures provide the
ideal accompaniment. A spooky seasonal treat and a great choice for any collection.
(Picture book. 6-8)
My thoughts
I
thought this was a well-written book in poetry form with the Spanish words
interspersed with the English translation and keeping the rhyme. The illustrations are appropriately creepy
and scary.
How it can be used in the
library
Storytime
in the library for Halloween with a dance at the end for the younger kids would
be a great way to introduce traditions of Halloween.
