#30: Henry's Freedom Box

Title: Henry’s Freedom Box

Author: Ellen Levine

Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Publishing Company: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 2007

# of pages: 39

Genre/category: Multicultural

 

            We read this book during class and it was one of my favorite books that we read so I decided to use it. Henry was a slave and worked in a big house for his master. When Henry’s master decides to pass him down to his son, things begin to change. Henry is sent away from his family to work in a factory. Later he meets Nancy whom he later marries and has a child with. When Nancy and his child get sold, Henry decides that he would mail himself away to freedom.

            The illustrations in this book are very good. The medium used to do these illustrations are pencils, watercolors, and oil. The illustrations are full page illustrations and most of the colors are very dark. The font used in this book is size 16 B Cochin Bold. The display type was set in Algerian EF.

            This book is a really good book that would be good for kids in third grade and above. I would use this book several different ways in the classroom. I would have children write a journal entry on how they would feel if they were a slave and got separated from their family. This book would also be a good book to read during a history lesson about the Underground Railroad.  I would also have the students to think about the life that Henry lived. I would have them to compare and contrast their life to Henry’s. This book received a Caldecott Honor book award.