Harriet Tubman and Black History Month (Let's Celebrate) - Softcover

K-Gr 2-- These elementary biographies give brief, sketchy glimpses of the lives of their subjects, and too few specific dates distort the historical framework needed to appreciate their struggles. Omissions also detract from the texts. The Lincoln-Douglas debates, the ``Gettysburg Address'' and the term ``Emancipation Proclamation'' are not mentioned in Abraham Lincoln , which reads like a tall tale. `` `Listen to that noise' . . . Whack! C-r-e-e-a-k. Crash! . . . `Sounds like men chopping down trees' . . . `Nope . . . It's just Abe Lincoln.' '' . . . ``He was taller and stronger than any man for miles around.'' The muted realistic watercolors enhance this caricaturish quality. Harriet Tubman is a compelling, well-written story but it also lacks dates. The illustrations--black backgrounds with etched lines of greens, oranges, blues, browns, and yellows--intensify the power of the narrative. Martin Luther King, Jr. is richly illustrated with warmly lightened realistic paintings of golds, browns, reds, and blacks, but they do not compensate for the lack of information. David A. Adler's A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. and A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln (both Holiday, 1989) are well written and illustrated, and include important events, dates, and summary tables. Martin Luther King Day (Carolrhoda, 1987) by Linda Lowery also has a good text. Stick with the many preferable alternatives. --Renee Blumenkrantz, Davis Community Library, Bethesda, MD

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