Minty; Freedom Child of the Sea

Two vivid and dramatic picture books which focus in very different ways on the issue of slavery.

Though the cover of Minty declares it to be 'the story of the young slave girl, Harriet Tubman', this is not a biography but a semifictional version of episodes in Tubman's childhood and of the kindling passion for freedom which would eventually help her to liberate herself and then hundreds of other slaves from the Southern States of America via the metaphorical Underground Railroad. The sumptuous, double spread paintings and the strong, straightforward text depict both the humiliations of plantation life and the solidarity which mollified them. An inspiring read in its own right, this book would also be an excellent history resource.

Freedom Child of the Sea is a brief but whimsically charming folk tale about an encounter with a scarred, underwater child who rescues a drowning boy before disappearing. The boy learns his rescuer is the spirit of a child who was born in the death throes of a woman flung from a slave ship; mother and child must dwell beneath the sea until his scars are healed and harmony reigns on Earth. The simple text is set out as a commentary on Gukova's haunting paintings: intricate, colourful juxtapositions of the arcadian and the stygian, reminiscent of Heironymus Bosch, and a promising source of wonder.