Henry's Freedom Box

by Ellen Levine Narrated by Jerry Dixon

Overview

Henry dreams of a world where his life belongs to him. But when his family is sold, he risks everything for what he knows is right. With the strength and conviction of the best kind of hero, Henry makes a harrowing journey in a wooden crate-and mails himself to freedom!

Editorial Reviews

Kadir Nelson's hauntingly beautiful images for Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom netted him a 2007 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. Now the artist teams with children's author Ellen Levine to re-create another tale from Tubman's time: the amazing true story of Henry "Box" Brown, a runaway slave from Virginia who "mailed himself to freedom" in a cramped wooden crate. Although the cruelties of slavery and the sad events of Henry's life may prove too intense for the youngest readers, grade-schoolers with some knowledge of American history will thrill to this astonishing tale of bravery, ingenuity, and the indomitable strength of the human spirit.

Kirkus Reviews

Nelson's powerful portraits add a majestic element to Levine's history-based tale of Henry "Box" Brown, a slave who escaped by having himself mailed to freedom in a crate. Depicted as a solemn boy with an arresting gaze on the cover, Henry displays riveting presence in every successive scene, as he grows from child to adult, marries and is impelled to make his escape after seeing his beloved wife and children sold to slaveowners. Related in measured, sonorous prose that makes a perfect match for the art, this is a story of pride and ingenuity that will leave readers profoundly moved, especially those who may have been tantalized by the entry on Brown in Virginia Hamilton's Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom (1993). (afterword, reading list) (Picture book. 8-10)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171337667
Publisher:	Weston Woods
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

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