Book
Cover:
Book
Title: Henry’s Freedom Box
Book
Summary:
Henry is a
slave in the south; this is all he has ever known. As his mom told him they might be separated
in the future, and she was right. Henry
was sent to work at a tobacco company where he meets Nancy. With the permission of their owners they got
married and started a family. Just as
his momma told him when he was younger his family was sold and he wasn’t able
to go with them. He got really sad and
then started hearing that there might be a place where there is no
slavery. He deiced it was a risk that he
had to take so he shipped himself to the north.
He got into a box and was tossed and flipped sat on used as a table, he
was quite through it all. He finally
made it to the north and was a free man.
APA
Reference:
Levine, E.
(2007). Henry’s freedom box. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
My Impressions: It is sad that this was the way that
life was for the slaves. I feel that the subject
matter might be to advanced how my Pre-K students, the pictures are what I
would focus on with them. The words
where deep and makes you wonder what really went in the south. It is so sad to read stories like this and
realize that families were tore apart just cause.
Professional
Review:
In a true
story that is both heartbreaking and joyful, Levine recounts the history of
Henry "Box" Brown, born into slavery. Henry works in a tobacco
factory, marries another slave, and fathers three children; but then his family
is sold, and Henry realizes he will never see them again. With nothing to lose,
Henry persuades his friend James and a sympathetic white man to mail him in a
wooden box to Philadelphia and freedom. Levine maintains a dignified, measured
tone, telling her powerful story through direct, simple language. A note at the
end explains the historical basis for the fictionalized story. Accompanying
Levine's fine, controlled telling are pencil, watercolor, and oil paint
illustrations by Kadir Nelson that resonate with beauty and sorrow. When Henry's
mother holds him as a child on her lap, they gaze out at bright autumn leaves,
and the tenderness is palpable, even as she calls to his attention the leaves
that "are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their
families." There is no sugarcoating here, and Henry is not miraculously
reunited with his wife and children; however, the conclusion, as Henry
celebrates his new freedom, is moving and satisfying.
Citation:
Lempke, S.
D. (2007). Ellen Levine: Henry’s freedom box [Review of the book Henry’s
freedom box: A true story from the Underground Railroad, by E. Levine]. The
Horn Book Magazine, 83(2), 186.
