AN APPLE FOR HARRIET TUBMAN

AN APPLE FOR HARRIET TUBMAN by Glennette Tilley Turner. Illustrated by Susan Keeter

An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glennette Tilley Turner is my first fall pick of the year. This is not a new release, but it is new to me! I stumbled across this at our local library a couple months ago, and I promptly bought a copy to have for fall.

One of the things that makes this picture book so sweet is that it is a true story! Looking at the Author's Notes at the end, you discover that Tubman's great niece was told this story by Harriet herself who in turn shared it with the author.

The second bit of extra sweetness to this book is that we get a different type of experience with Harriet than we typically get in her stories. What do I mean by that? This book focuses on a job that she does as a child, pick and clean apples for her master. She is not allowed to taste them. She greatly desires the apples and one day attempts to eat one and pays a hefty price. She then makes a promise to her future self regarding apples. It is a beautiful and emotional story.

Susan Keeter does a marvelous job on the illustrations. You feel as if you are sucked right into Tubman's childhood.

ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- First there are several Harriet Tubman picture books and chapter books that are wonderful reads. I will include some pictures in the comments! Second how about an apple snack? You can sample different types of apples and determine your favorite, eat caramel apples, apple crisp, apple dumplings, etc. Yum! Yum!