Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad (Historical Fiction)

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad was written by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. It was published by Scholastic Press in 2007 and has received a Caldecott Honor Award for its illustrations. The grade level recommendation for this story is for second grade.

Henry Brown was a slave in the mid 1800s that was sold as a child to work in a factory. He married and had children that were also sold. Since he had no more family, he decided to escape to freedom using the Underground Railroad. He got white men that weren't supporters of slavery to mail him in a box to freedom. He became very famous because it worked. He was renamed: Henry Box Brown.

Henry's Freedom Box is a good source of literature because it tells a story of a real event in history. It's a great way to help children understand the Underground Railroad. The setting was definitely integral to the story because Henry traveled from Virginia, a slave state, to Washington D.C., a free state. This book sufficiently references the Underground Railroad, slavery, and Henry Box Brown.

The illustrations by Kadir Nelson also contributed highly to Henry's story. They enhanced the story by showing how slaves had to live and dress as opposed to whites, and they gave the reader a visual of Henry's story. The dark colors gave the illustrations the right tone for speaking of slavery. Nelson's use of cross-hatching also created the right "feel" for the story and gave the pictures texture. As I said before, these illustrations won a Caldecott Honor Award.

In this story, Henry goes through physical and emotional hardships before finally reaching freedom. After being read this book, students should write a response on how Henry acted, thought, and felt while he was in Virginia and how he acted, thought, and felt when he arrived in Washington D.C. They should also include why Henry's feelings changed. >> Obviously, they should answer that Henry's feelings changed because he was once a slave, and now he is free.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3
Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. (Slavery to Freedom)