Henry's Freedom Box

Levine, Ellen.  2007.  Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad.  Ill. by Kadir Nelson.  New York: Scholastic Press.  ISBN 043977733X

Henry’s Freedom Box is set in the south during the mid-1800s prior to the Civil War.  The story follows the life of Henry “Box” Brown from his enslaved childhood to his freedom as an adult.  The story asks the reader to think about the families who were torn apart by slavery as Henry tries to first overcome the loss of his parents and his home and then as he is stripped of his own wife and children.  

The story makes no pardons for this country’s past by numbing the grief felt by our protagonist, but it also does not accuse or lecture the reader for what came before.  Kadir Nelson’s portrait-like art beautifully exposes each character’s emotion with its intricate details and use of shadowing. Levine gently exposes one of the most torrential periods in the United States’ history by unashamedly and non-accusingly discussing slavery and its effect on the human spirit.  

Because this book deals with slavery in America, a delicate issue in any medium, adult audiences may not be comfortable with the content; however, this story is presented as such an honest account of what went on, that no reader should be offended or embarrassed by the depictions of this true and bittersweet story.

Henry’s Freedom Box was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 2008.

“illustrations by Kadir Nelson that resonate with beauty and sorrow.” (The Horn Book, March/April 2007)

“…beautifully crafted picture book….”  School Library Journal, March 2007)