Wanted Dead Or Alive: The True Story Of Harriet Tubman [Paperback]

Ann Mcgovern (Author), R.M. Powers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Born a slave on a Maryland plantation, Harriet Tubman dreamed of following the North Star to freedom. When she did escape, she risked her life many times to lead 300 slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. This is the dramatic biography of a woman whose faith, courage, and intelligence have carved her a place in history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ann is the author of 55 books for children, including the classics STONE SOUP and TOO MUCH NOISE. Many of Ann's books are inspired from her travels and adventures, her interest in brave heroines, history, folklore, stories, animals, and her experiences scuba diving around the world. Ann was born in New York City and loves living there today.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Nighttime, Daytime It is five years before the beginning of the Civil War.

On the plantations of Maryland when they talk about Harriet, they call her Moses. In the North, too, she is known as Moses.

In the little slave cabins they whisper her name and hope she will come soon. In the big plantation houses, the masters wonder, "Who is this person they call Moses?"

Nighttime. A song is sung outside the slave cabins:
Go down, Moses
Way down to Egypt land
And tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.

A slave whispers to his wife, "She is here. Get the children ready."

The next morning an overseer counts six slaves missing. Moses again!

Daytime. A Negro woman walks down the street. A big sunbonnet covers her face. She carries two chickens and walks bent over, like an old woman.

Suddenly she sees a white man coming toward her. Quickly she lets go of the chickens. The man laughs to see the old woman chasing two chickens across the road.

As soon as he is out of sight, the woman laughs too. Her trick has worked. The man did not recognize her. The man was her old master. The woman was Moses again!

Daytime. A women sits in a railroad station. Nearby two men are talking about a big reward. "Forty thousand dollars for Harriet Tubman, dead or alive," one of the men says.

Then the men see the Negro woman sitting in the station. They stare at the deep scar on her forehead. Quickly the woman opens a book and pretends to read it. She hears one of the men say, "That can't be the woman we want. Harriet Tubman can't read or write!"

But it is Harriet Tubman. It is the one they call Moses.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590442120
• ISBN-13: 978-0590442121
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann McGovern is the author of over 55 books for children and sales of her books exceed 30 million. She is the author of the classics STONE SOUP and TOO MUCH NOISE, as well as several IF YOU LIVED... books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Follow the North Star to freedom!, February 22, 2004

By 

Bucky (Haunted Mansion, The Magic Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wanted Dead Or Alive: The True Story Of Harriet Tubman (Paperback)

I had this book when I was a child and I treasured it. This book introduced me to the life of Harriet Tubman, conductor on the underground railroad (she was so successful at helping people escape slavery that she had a price on her head), Civil War spy (an extremely dangerous undertaking when you consider that captured spies were executed), and servant to the poor. She instantly became my hero. The book is instructive without being preachy, and gave me a sense of Harriet Tubman's incredible strength of character, determination, and courage. In the pages of this book, I found a Great American. She has been a role model for me ever since I read this book. Consider giving this book as a gift to a child you love. The writing is easy to read, the illustrations are gripping, and the main character is a bona fide, real life, honest-to-goodness hero.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wanted Dead Or alive, May 9, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Wanted Dead Or Alive: The True Story Of Harriet Tubman (Paperback)

I think that Wanted Dead or Alive was a very good book, because it talked about how Hariet Tubman saved lots of lifes from slavery. Then she saved slaves from beng sold to a diffrent owner.

I think that the big idea is that Hariet Tubman escaped from slavery and still went back for more slaves and then just to help them have a better life. Then she lived the rest of her life in freedom.

I think this book was very intense book because it talked about how Hariet Tubman saved lots of slaves and still went back for more. I think that the book was cool.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Children's Books of All Time, February 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Wanted Dead Or Alive: The True Story Of Harriet Tubman (Paperback)

I don't remember why I first picked this book up, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I introduced the book to my teacher, and he became so interested in it that he read it to the class. The next time the class went to the school library, they borrowed all the copies of this book - 10 copies in all.

The author has a way of making the reader feel like he or she is in the story - if not as Harriet Tubman, then as someone close to her.

With all the junk being fed to kids nowadays, putting a book of this quality in front of them could pique their interest in reading.