Henry's Freedom Box

Title: Henry's Freedom Box

Author: Ellen Levine

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Awards: Caldecott Honor

Age Group: 1st-5th 

Henry's Freedom Box is based off of the story of Henry "Box" Brown. Henry was a slave along with his other family members in a plantation. One day his master told him that he was sending him to work for his son. From then on, Henry was separated from his family. He met a girl named Nancy, who was also a slave, and he went on to marry Nancy. Sadly, he was separated from his wife and kids when they were sold at a slave auction. That was the moment that Henry decided that he would not put up with being a slave anymore. He came up with a plan to mail himself in a box to Philadelphia where there was no slavery. And that's exactly what he did! He arrived on March 30, 1849, all in one piece, and went on to be known as Henry "Box" Brown.

I remember learning about Henry "Box" Brown in school and being fascinated (and horrified) by his story. I still can't get past the fact that he was squished in a box for hours and hours, not even right side up the whole way! Anyway, I would definitely use this book in my classroom, because it is such an interesting and unique (to say the least) story! It combines something unusual (like a person being mailed in a box) with history (the Civil War era/slavery). It makes for a very engaging read aloud, and the story will stick in the kids' heads for the rest of their lives, no doubt! At least it did for me.

I would recommend Henry's Freedom Box for 1st through 5th graders. There is some interesting vocabulary as well as the obviously distressing theme of being mailed across the country, so I would say it's probably not ideal for kids any younger than that. 

Some lesson ideas/activities to go along with this book...

• Compare/Contrast: Students could compare Henry's story to that of Harriet Tubman. Both were known for their Underground Railroad exhibitions.
• Book Cube: Students could create a cube out of paper and write about different elements of the book, characters, or historical background/time period on all the sides.