Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2007)

Cork the muskrat and Fuzz the possum play many games, but Cork gets frustrated when Fuzz keeps winning. He suggests a swim race without realizing Fuzz can't swim. When Fuzz momentarily disappears, Cork fears the worst, and soon realizes that winning isn't so important as long as he has his buddy. Sharp, playful illustrations display the friends' emotions.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Although the title raises different expectations, Clinton and Evans (previously paired for <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Hold the Flag High) deliver gripping parallel portraits of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, two remarkable women born into slavery whose paths cross here only on the final pages, in a meeting about which the author can do no more than speculate. Alternating between the two subjects, Clinton underscores their courage, perseverance and passion as each obtains her individual freedom and then campaigns against slavery. A personal tone and specific facts bring home the experience of slavery for the target audience without diluting too much of the horror but also without introducing concepts beyond their grasp: “Araminta's [Harriet Tubman's] parents loved and cherished their sons and daughters but could not protect them.... Two of her sisters were snatched away, stolen off and sold South—they were gone but never forgotten.” As Harriet Tubman sews a quilt, Clinton notes, “like the quilt she worked on, one square at a time, she pieced together her plans for running off to the North.” Evans builds on this motif, re-creating the appearance of stitches alongside his mixed-media compositions so that they look basted onto the background, itself resembling a collection of light-colored quilt squares and quilt tops. Some illustrations incorporate fabric scraps, subtly reinforcing the ideas that each woman assembled her own future, and that history can be made from the meeting, or joining together, of influential and inspiring people. Ages 5-7. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Nov.)

Kirkus Reviews

A patchwork motif visually pieces together the stories of the two redoubtable abolitionists, who met only once—in Boston in 1864—but who shared a passionate mission. Side text panels relate, in alternating spreads, the lives of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Clinton uses vivid language to sketch the broad outlines of their beginnings in slavery and their later careers as speaker for abolition and conductor on the Underground Railroad: "Isabella [Sojourner Truth] was tired of waiting, and broke the chains herself. She walked out and left slavery behind." Evans's mixed-media illustrations cleanly incorporate such textures as fabric and broad paint strokes, individual figures outlined with quick black lines that provide definition. The images themselves are expressive—a monumental Truth cradles a baby, a confident-looking Tubman holds a Union courier bag against a Stars-and-Stripes backdrop—and are "stitched" to the text panels. The actual meeting takes up only three spreads and is of necessity imagined (there is no written account), which results in something of an anticlimax, given the build-up. It's a nifty idea, but, alas, the vessel is somewhat stronger than its story. (Picture book/fictionalized nonfiction. 7-10)

ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2007)

Clinton imagines what might have been said during a meeting between Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, who both found themselves in Boston one day in October 1864. Their meeting is the climax of this picture book, which tells the stories of the two heroes in clear, simple words on alternating double-page spreads. Evans' dramatic collage-style illustrations evoke the quilts the women worked on, piecing together their history. One curving silhouette-type picture shows Sojourner Truth preaching and lecturing, holding out "an arm made strong by years of slave labor" as she asks, "Aren't I a woman?" Harriet Tubman, only five feet tall, but a giant among her people, is shown guiding runaways to safety on the Underground Railroad. A brief epilogue fills in the two biographies and presents a small black-and-white photo of each woman. Clinton notes that no one photographed the women together in Boston, and she provides no source notes, which may lead some to wonder if the meeting really happened. Even so, the compelling parallel narratives of two women "joined by a kinship of spirit still add up to stirring history.

School Library Journal (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Gr 3-7 This powerful picture book relates the lives of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth on alternating pages, leading up to the women's meeting in Boston in 1864. Many parallels are drawn between these two legendary figures born about 25 years apart and in different areas of the country. Compellingly told with a sure storyteller's cadence, Clinton's chronicle does not spare readers the harshness of the subjects' young years; they suffered beatings, witnessed siblings and family members sold away, endured hard labor, and risked everything for freedom. Both women renamed themselves, taking ownership of their lives and leading and inspiring others on the road to freedom. Evans uses strong outlines to create striking images in rich earth tones. A patchwork motif pieces the text panels and illustrations together with stitches, echoing the quilts mentioned in the text. One expressive illustration depicts young Harriet Tubman with her arms stretched out against a tree whose branches are filled with birds, as she dreams of flying to freedom. The visual parallel is an image of Truth cradling a baby with a bird-filled tree behind her, yearning for freedom for herself and her children. No reports or notes exist from their meeting, so unfortunately the climactic event in this book is all conjecture. An epilogue briefly outlines the rest of their lives, but no source notes are given. Nonetheless, this is a beautiful, uplifting book that is sure to inspire interest in these strong, amazing women. Robin L. Gibson, Granville Parent Cooperative Preschool, OH