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Henry's Freedom Box (Caldecott Honor Book) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ellen Levine
Creator: Kadir Nelson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $6.76
You Save: $10.23 (60%)
New (36) Used (11) from $6.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 8802
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 40
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 11.1 x 8.9 x 0.3
ISBN: 043977733X
EAN: 9780439777339
ASIN: 043977733X
Publication Date: January 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New - Has remainder mark. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler with many exclusive publisher contracts.
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Product Description
Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. When Henry grows up and marries, he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Excellent March 25, 2008
The book is brand new and I received it during the expected delivery time. I am very pleased!
Spare story of one man's struggle against slavery January 14, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This story documents the slavery and eventual freedom of one man. Henry and his brothers and sisters work for a good master. However, on his deathbed, the master gives Henry to his son, separating Henry from the rest of his family forever. Henry works well in the master's son's tobacco factory, presumably avoiding the beatings of the foreman. Later, he meets Nancy, a slave of another master. The two are allowed to marry and live together, and eventually they have three children. Unfortunately, Nancy's master suffers a financial loss, and Henry is informed one day that his wife and children have been sold.
The loss of this family is forever too, and Henry is now spurred to seek his freedom so he'll never have to suffer a loss like that again. With the help of two friends- one another slave, one a white doctor who doesn't believe in slavery- he literally mails himself to freedom in Philadelphia.
What I liked most about this book was that the author does not force an emotional response out of the reader because she doesn't have to. Young readers- as well as adults- can immediately appreciate the horror of being separated from your family as a child and then losing your children. The author presents the losses, but doesn't dictate the grief and anger that the main character must have felt. This makes the reader's response that much more powerful.
Although Henry does eventually gain his freedom, his previous losses haunt the end of the story, just as they must have haunted him and countless other American slaves.
Story finally being told November 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a story that all children should hear - enslaved people fought to be free in very unconventional ways. I would also recommend the story of William and Ellen Craft's escape from slavery.
Courageous August 3, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX tells the story of Henry "Box" Brown, the slave who shipped himself out of slavery in a wooden box. As a child, Henry's master treated he and his family well, but his mother always reminded him that just as leaves blow in the wind after being torn from a tree, slave children could be torn from their families. Henry was in fact separated from his family when he was given to his master's son. As he grew older he met and fell in love and was eventually allowed to marry. Henry and his wife were able to live together and raise a family, but unfortunately his wife and children were sold at a slave market, leaving him alone. Overcome with grief, Henry began to think more and more about freedom and ultimately, with the help of friends, executed the plan to ship himself to Pennsylvania, where he could be free.
Ellen Levine has done an excellent job retelling the story of Henry "Box" Brown. Kadir Nelson's illustrations really enhanced the story, conveying just the right amount of emotion. As the story moves along, readers can sense Henry's fear, grief, desperation, and hope. HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX is a great book for young readers because it highlights the fact that many slaves did not simply accept their circumstances, rather, they found brave, inventive ways to obtain freedom.
Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Moving story of a bid for a different life. July 10, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson's HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX: A TRUE STORY FROM THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD tells of a young slave who doesn't know how birthday or age, and who dreams of freedom even as his family is sold. His search for freedom on the underground railroad will carry him on a dangerous path in this moving story of a bid for a different life.
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