Henry's Freedom Box

Henry's Freedom Box 

Author: Ellen Levine 

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson 

Grade Level: 3-5

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Awards: Caldecott Medal 

Summary: This book follows the story of Henry.  Henry is torn away from his family at a young age and is forced to work as a slave in a warehouse.  He gets older and soon marries a young woman and has several children.  Sadly, Henry's family is torn away from him when they are sold in a slave market.  Determined to find reunite with his family, Henry ships himself to the North in a shipping box.  After this long, tiresome journey, Henry is finally free.

Evaluation: The retelling of this story is impactful, not only in the way Ellen Levine writes the story, but in the illustrations by Kadir Nelson.  I plan to use this in my classroom because it is a powerful work.  I think middle school students would be moved by the story and how the emotions are presented in the illustrations. 

The grade appropriateness is between third and fifth grade.  There might be some vocabulary words that will be unfamiliar to younger readers.  That being said, this could be a story to introduce after you've had the chance to go over that time in our country's history to help build a knowledge of some of those vocabulary words. 

I could read this book to my middle school students when they begin to come across slavery in their textbook readings.  This would be a powerful book to show them the great links many people went through in order to be free.  This book could then lead into a writing reflection time.