My co-operating teacher introduced me to this inspiring and emotional true story about Henry "Box" Brown. This story takes place during slavery and is a story about a young man who escapes through the underground railroad. After being torn from his mother at a young age, he started his very own family while living with his new owner. Year passed, and Henry felt as though his family was normal until his wife and children were sold at the slave market. With tears in his eyes, he watched his family in shackles, ride off knowing he would never see them again. A kind man, who opposed slavery, helped Henry construct an escape plan. To find out Henry's fate you will have to read the rest! This text will definitely be included in a history unit in my classroom. It gives a great perspective on how children lived in terror during slavery. This book is leveled at 3.0 on the accelerated reader scale. 

(Levine & Nelson, 2007)

Note: A stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist.Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday, his first day of freedom.

Genre: History / Slavery / African American

Year Published: 2007

Year Read: 2011

Publisher: Scholastic Press

This is another book that I was reading for the Children’s Book Club for Black History Month and I will admit that I just loved this book to death! “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a Caldecott Honor Book by Ellen Levine along with illustrations by Kadir Nelson and it is about a runaway slave named Henry “Box” Brown who thinks of a clever plan to get out of slavery after his family is sold. “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a truly inspiring and dramatic book for children who want to learn more about the horrors of slavery.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read this book because I wanted to learn more about black history, being that this is black history month and I wanted to learn more about the horrors of slavery for blacks. Ellen Levine had done an excellent job at writing this true story about Henry “Box” Brown’s clever escape from slavery. I loved how Ellen Levine made this story extremely dramatic and breathtaking at the same time as I was really moved by Henry’s loss of his family and how he wanted to escape from the cruel life of slavery and I was so amazed at how Henry escaped slavery by mailing himself in a box to freedom because that idea sounded so ingenious and risky that I was practically worrying about Henry’s safety in arriving to a land of freedom. I also loved how Ellen Levine provided a note at the end of the book about how Henry Brown was one of the most famous runaway slaves and how there were over four million slaves living in the United States and that information alone was enough to let me ask myself about how could we have so many innocent people as slaves? It really gave me so much knowledge about Henry Brown that I never knew before and how his plan made him such a famous runaway slave, which I think that his recognition in black history is greatly well deserved because his plan was so brilliant. Kadir Nelson’s illustrations are extremely beautiful in this book as they realistically portrayed the pain and sorrow that Henry has to endure during his days of slavery. The image I really loved was a close up shot of Henry’s sad face after his wife Nancy told him that their children might be sold and you can see the sadness on Henry’s face and what truly made this image so breathtaking was how the light from the window reflected off of Henry’s face, which seems to make this image look like a foreshadowing about what is in store for Henry.

All in all, “Henry’s Freedom Box” is a truly touching book that children who want to learn more about slavery and the heroic figures during slavery will easily enjoy this book! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to some sad scenes.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

In the month of february I read 4 books, a graphic novel and listened to an audio book. It was a good reading month. I enjoyed all six, some more than others. 

The Standouts 

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

Aya: Love In Yop City by Marguerite Abouet

The Just Ok

Manor Of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

"Do you see those leaves blowing in the wind? They are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families."

 Albeit being only 40 pages, I found it to be a heart wrenching, enlightening and inspiring read. I would recommend it to all.

 *The selling and mistreatment of humans in the most inhumane manner will always be extremely disturbing to me*

I can't forget to mention the beautiful drawings by Kadir Nelson. They add such depth and are the visual communicators in the book.