Book: Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Author: Ellen Levine
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright Date: 2007
Age Range: 4-8
Lexile: 380
I was not aware of this story prior to this picture book, but it is an incredible and inspiring story.
This book tells the true story about a young slave named Henry and his experiences living in the
South. The book starts with an introduction to Henry Brown and we find out that he doesn’t know
how old he is because nobody had kept records of slaves’ birthdays. But he dreams about his
freedom but this dream grows further from him when he is sold to work in a warehouse and torn
away from his family. Henry grows up and falls in love but the same situation happens to his wife
and children when they are sold off in a slave market and he never sees them again. Then one day,
he gets the idea of mailing himself to the North and he finally gets his freedom after an arduous
journey.
This book tells the true story about a young slave named Henry and his experiences living in the
South. The book starts with an introduction to Henry Brown and we find out that he doesn’t know
how old he is because nobody had kept records of slaves’ birthdays. But he dreams about his
freedom but this dream grows further from him when he is sold to work in a warehouse and torn
away from his family. Henry grows up and falls in love but the same situation happens to his wife
and children when they are sold off in a slave market and he never sees them again. Then one day,
he gets the idea of mailing himself to the North and he finally gets his freedom after an arduous
journey.
This is a Caldecott Honor Book and after reading this book to your child or to a group of children,
you could partner it with a picture book about Harriet Tubman. After reading both books, you could
talk about the Underground Railroad and maybe read about the different ways that people escaped
the South and how people from the North helped them. You could also track Henry’s journey on a
map with the children.
you could partner it with a picture book about Harriet Tubman. After reading both books, you could
talk about the Underground Railroad and maybe read about the different ways that people escaped
the South and how people from the North helped them. You could also track Henry’s journey on a
map with the children.
This book was well illustrated but there were some pages where it was difficult for me to read
the text on the page. I would assume the illustrator had intentionally used darker colors and also
the text color to convey the terrible situation that Henry was in the South. The illustrator then uses
brighter colors on the last page when Henry finally ends his journey in Philadelphia. The author’s
note at the end of the book was a good additional source for some more information on what was
happening at the time that Henry had shipped himself to the North.
the text on the page. I would assume the illustrator had intentionally used darker colors and also
the text color to convey the terrible situation that Henry was in the South. The illustrator then uses
brighter colors on the last page when Henry finally ends his journey in Philadelphia. The author’s
note at the end of the book was a good additional source for some more information on what was
happening at the time that Henry had shipped himself to the North.
Readalikes:
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom by Bettye Stroud
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf that cover doesn't get someone to pick up the book, then I don't know what will. This title would be excellent for book clusters about the Underground Railroad and slavery in the South. I love the idea of using a map to trace the route Henry took on his path to freedom. Scholastic provides a lesson plan for the book as well as other books relating to the theme at:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/lesson-plans/migrated-featured-files/henrys-freedom-box-storia-tg.pdf