Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky

by Faith Ringgold

Cassie Lighfoot, the eight-year-old who shared the glories of flying with little... read more

Cassie Lighfoot, the eight-year-old who shared the glories of flying with little brother Be in Tar Beach (Crown, 1991), is at it again. This time she and Be take a dream journey to the past where they travel through history on the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman herself. Details about the harsh realities of slavery and the dangers fugitives faced are balanced (but never trivialized) by Ringgold's stunning oil paintings which show Cassie's childlike, whimsical interpretations of Aunt Harriet's oral account of history: she pictures the Underground Railroad, for example, as a real train and Harriet Tubman dressed in a conductor's hat and apron. A two-page note at the book's end offers biographical information about Harriet Tubman as well as list of resources. Winner, 1992 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Illustration. (Ages 6-11)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1992

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