Henry's Freedom Box

Title: Henry’s Freedom Box
Author: Ellen Levine
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Copyright: 2007 by Kadir Nelson
Pages: 40
Ages: 4-8
Genre: Non-fiction

Summary:
Henry was a slave who lived with his mother until one day his Master became ill. He gave Henry to his son who was a tobacco farmer. While in town one day he met another slave named Nancy and they fell in love. They received permission from both of their Masters to get married. They did, and had many children. However because Nancy’s Master had lost money, he sold Nancy and the Children. There was nothing that Henry could do. He was distraught. He worked, ate and slept. Then one day, he and some others including a white man who believed slavery to be wrong, decided to mail Henry to freedom. They labeled the box so that he would be kept right side up and handled with care but no one listened. He was turned upside down, and sideways and rolled and dropped. After 27 hours he was finally in Philadelphia.

Who would I recommend this to?
Everyone. Absolutely everyone! It’s such a great book and really gives a feel for what it was like during times of slavery in the United States.

Potential Problems:
Some people may not want their children to know about the United States past and the way slaves were treated. It also has a gruesome part where he burns his hand to get off of work. It could also frighten some children. His family was taken from him and they never saw each other again.

My Reaction:
I really liked this book, but it is so sad! It’s definitely not a happy ending. It piqued my curiosity and now I plan to look up more about Henry. It really saddens me that he never saw his family again.
The illustrations are beautiful! You get a true sense of the emotions that he was feeling. Which I think is important because of the seriousness of the book.