SLIS 5420 Module 5 - Other Awards

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.