Henry's Freedom Box

Levine, E. & Nelson, K. (2007). Henry’s freedom box. New York: Scholastic Press.

            Henry’s Freedom Box fits into the genre of traditional/multicultural literature.  If fits into traditional literature because Henry’s story was told by word of mouth and newspapers in the mid-1800s.  The author wrote down his story and made a picture book out of it.  It fits into multicultural literature because it is about African Americans who are a group of people that have been marginalized throughout history. 

            This is a story about a boy named Henry who was born into slavery.  He never knew his birthday because then, slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthday.  Henry always longed to be free.  He would see birds flying and think, “Free bird! Happy Bird!”  Throughout the book, birds are seen as a symbol of freedom.  The illustrator noted that the mediums of pencil, watercolor, and oil were used to create the pictures.  The illustrations in the book are with shadows and dark colors helping to set the mood of the story.  You can tell that there is sadness in the book.  Henry doesn’t want to be a slave and one day his wife and kids were sold.  This makes Henry determined to be free.  With the help of some friends, he makes a box, crate, that will be mailed to the free state of Pennsylvania.  Will Henry finally have a “birthday” and be free?  Will Henry be reunited with his family?

            Students can relate to this book because it starts off with the main character, Henry, being a young boy.  I think that this would be an interesting way for them to learn about history rather than just from a textbook.  This could lead to further research because Henry was a real person and the events in the story are true.  I chose this book because it was recommend to me by my school’s SLMS and it won the Caldecott Award.

Big Question:  How would you feel if you were taken away from your family?  How would you feel if you were owned by someone?