The Gift of Freedom

How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers

A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TOP

Abrams Books for Young Readers

(pub. 1.13.2026)

40 pages

Ages 4 - 8

Author: Glennette Tilley Turner

   Illustrator: Laura Freeman

Character: Harriet Tubman

Overview:

"Harriet Tubman was always a keen observer. She learned to use the North Star for a compass, to tell time by the stars, and to find her way by natural signs as well as any hunter could.

She could navigate dense forests, locate waterways in the area, and identify the white Quakers and Black mariners who were willing to help enslaved people escape.

When Tubman first fled north, she knew she might never have another chance to run away. Yet after she arrived safely in the free city of Philadelphia, she risked her own freedom again and again to help other Freedom Seekers―and those she’d had to leave behind.

She never forgot her family in Maryland, and on Christmas Day in 1854, Tubman returned again, hoping to give three of her brothers the best possible gift―the gift of freedom!"

Tantalizing taste:

" But Harriet did not set out blindly. Always a keen observer, she had learned to use the North Star for a compass, to tell time by the stars, and to find her way by natural signs as well as any hunter could. She could navigate dense forests, locate waterways in the area, and identify the white Quakers and black mariners willing to help enslaved people escape."

And something more: The author, Glennette Tilley Turner, shares in the Author's Note: "Although best known for her Underground Railroad work, Harriet Tubman's remarkable accomplishments did not end there. During the Civil War, she served as a nurse, a spy, and a recruiter of soldiers. One night, she planned and led a raid that freed seven hundred enslaved African Americans from plantations on the Combahee river in South Carolina - thus becoming the first woman in American history to lead an armed military operation