Book review: 'Harriet Tubman' is a concise biography for young readers

History can be hard and sometimes heavy for young children. Topics like racism, slavery, and the Civil War can also be difficult to teach to kids. How many details do you explain? Will they understand all the concepts? However, despite the difficulties teaching history can bring, it's so important that kids (actually, ALL of us) understand our past so we can learn from the mistakes of others and make the future better.

I appreciated how writer Barbara Kramer, with National Geographic Kids, explained slavery in her children friendly biography, Harriet Tubman. In this book, kids can read about how Harriet was sent away from her family and cried because she missed them. How, as a teenager, she was severely injured by another overseer, and, finally, how she overcame her difficult life and freed herself through the danger-fraught process of the Underground Railroad.

With large type and several pages explaining terms like free states, overseer, and rights, this book is very easy to understand and exceptionally educational. There's also a quiz in the back, so your kids (and you!) can see how much information was retained.

Kramer doesn't stop with Tubman's freedom and the end of the Civil War (thank you!). She goes on to tell about Tubman's second marriage and how she started opened a home for elderly African Americans. There's even a picture of the famous 89-year-old lady.

My third grader learned a lot from Harriet Tubman, and I'm so glad she did! It just so happens that the history curriculum we use is going to be teaching a lot about the Civil War and civil rights this year, so getting this pre-knowledge will be helpful for her.

Book breakdown:
32 pages
Best for ages: 5 through 11
Educational factor: lots!
Christian content: none