Customer Reviews

Harriet and the Promised Land

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Great story about a great woman, Harriet Tubman, american liberator. I read it with my children and they seem to delight in the cadence of the soulful prose and the beautiful bold art.

This children's book helps us to better understand the true feelings of an African-American person in the south. It is great for those of us who don't really have a grasp of what was going on.

First published in 1968, this artistic book tells the awe-inspiring story of Harriet Tubman. It ought to be on the list of children's bestsellers, for it gives children the stories of two American heroes for the price of one. The first is the title figure, Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), who escaped from slavery but courageously returned south 19 times to lead more than 300 others to freedom. The second is Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), who made this magnificent series of illustrations in 1939 and 1940.

The text is poetic. Early in the story, on a hot summer day in about 1820, "a group of slave children were tumbling in the sandy soil in the state of Maryland," Harriet Tubman among them. She dreamed of freedom and escaped, but returned to help others. The story builds as the selfless African-American leader risked her life many times to help others reach freedom. "Some were afraid, / But none turned back, / For close at their heels / Howled the bloodhound pack."

As the story closes, young readers find an enthralling figure of Harriet Tubman building support for the anti-slavery movement. At every convention within 500 miles, she could be found speaking in words and tones that brought tears to the eyes and sorrow to the hearts of all listeners.

Lawrence's paintings, made in tempera colors and poster paints, are poetic, too. Trained in the art workshops of Harlem in the 1930s, including the Utopia Children's House and the Harlem Art Workshop (sponsored by the New Deal), Lawrence became one of the finest African-American artists in U.S. history. His extraordinary talent was recognized when he was still relatively young.

Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he moved to Easton, Pennsylvania and then at seven to Philadelphia. At 13, Jacob moved again, to Harlem. Drawing on Bible stories and the powerful Christian sermons, often given on street corners, Lawrence remembered orators who spoke with reverence of Harriet Tubman and determined to show the African-American struggle for freedom in his art.

The Tubman series was one of Lawrence's earliest. It predated by only a couple of years the 60-panel migration series that made Lawrence's career in 1941-42. Half that series was bought by the Philips Gallery in Washington D.C. and the other half by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

But Lawrence's Tubman work is among his best. This book's only shortcoming is that it does not reproduce all of the Tubman paintings. Several were excluded and can be seen only in an art museum, or the pages of an art catalogue. But don't let that stop you. Children will find themselves doubly enriched. Alyssa A. Lappen

This beautiful book tells the story of Harriet Tubman's life in pictures by Lawrence. The story is simply written but the art is the true draw. Many students know the story of Tubman before they get to 8th grade. I use this text to practice a prediction strategy. I had students only look at the pictures and write an outline for the story of the book. The stories were quite interesting, but all seemed to twist their stories to be about Tubman in the end. It makes a great short story portfolio piece.

Purchased this for my grand daughter age 7 and I loved it, thought it was a great way to introduce her to Jacob Lawrence's work and start a foundation for her art book/history library. No feed back from she or her parents as yet.

Excellent story. As always the paintings by Jacob Lawrence are incredible. A must for every library.