Author: Ellen Levine
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Peach’s Picks Rating:
Year of publication: 2007
City of publication: New York
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 978-0-439-77733-9
Author website: http://www.ellenlevineauthor.com/
Illustrator website: http://www.kadirnelson.com/
Media used for illustrations: Pencil, watercolor, and oil paintings. The artist uses crosshatched pencil lines layered with watercolors and oil paints. “Kadir Nelson’s paintings for this book were inspired by an antique lithography of Henry “Box” Brown, created by Samuel Rowse in 1850 as a fundraiser for the anti-slavery movement (back jacket flap).”
Annotation: A fictionalized account of Henry “Box” Brown, a slave living in Richmond. With help from abolitionists he escapes to freedom by hiding in a wooden crate that is shipped to Philadelphia.
Personal reaction to the book: Henry “Box” Brown declared his birthday as “March 30, 1849, his first day of freedom! (page 38)”. As a slave in Richmond, Virginia, Henry Brown was not allowed to know his birthday nor was he allowed to stay with his mother. As a child he was given to his master’s son who set him to work in a tobacco factory. Henry was constantly at the mercy of his white masters. As an adult, he married and had a family. One day while he was at work, his family was sold. Henry could no longer abide his slavery. With the help of two men, one a white abolitionist, he was packed into a large wooden crate and shipped to Philadelphia where he found freedom. This fictionalized picturebook version of Henry’s life complements the study of Civil Rights or slavery. It is an interesting story about a man yearning for freedom and finding a creative solution to obtain it. The reader empathizes with Henry’s plight and is glad to learn that he gained his freedom, but there is sorrow as he has lost his family. The text is simple, but not simplistic text. It describes Henry’s plight in a direct and powerful manner; for example, “When he wiped away his tears, Nancy, too, was gone (page 19)”. The pictures give the text emotion. On that same page the reader sees Henry’s children calling to him as they are carted away. Henry’s anxiety and loss is apparent on his face. Nelson’s paintings convey the characters’ depth of emotion through their eyes, expressive faces, and body language. The rich earth-tones of the illustrations fill entire two-page spreads throughout the book. With a few exceptions, the text is printed over the illustrations, but does not interrupt the paintings. Any author would be privileged to have Kadir Nelson illustrate their work. An author’s note extends historical information surrounding the story and a bibliography is included. The book reads well aloud and the large illustrations can be seen by a group or examined individually for depth of detail.
General curricular connections:
- Henry Box Brown
- African-Americans
- Underground Railroad
- Civil Rights
- Slavery
Specific example of curricular connection matched to State Standards:
Subject: History
Grade level: 8
Subject: History
Grade level: 8
Standards:
California State Standards
History – Social Studies Content Standards for Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade 12
Grade 8 United States History: Growth and Conflict
8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
1. Describe the leaders of the movement (e.g., John Quincy Adams and his proposed constitutional amendment, John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
Recommended grade levels:
School Library Journal recommends this book for use with grades 2-5
Booklist recommends this book for use with grades 1-3
Peach’s Picks recommends this book for use with grades 2-9
Awards/Recognitions:
Booklist starred review
Horn Book starred review
Caldecott Honor, 2008
ALA Notable Children's Books, Middle Readers, 2008
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (CBC & NCSS)
Notable Books for a Global Society, (IRA)
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) best-of-the-year
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award
Note: This book is included in Assignment 2. This book was included in the LIBR 271A category “Other books receiving Top Ten votes, Summer 2009.”
Simile: Page 3; “Do you see those leaves blowing in the wind? They are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families.”
Allusion: Page 37; Allusion to the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. An image found on the pitcher at William H. Johnson’s home in Philadelphia. The pitcher is placed on a table in the background. On the pitcher is an image created by Josiah Wedgwood, a member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave trade. It shows a slave bound in chains reaching up in a pleading manner. This pitcher alludes to the abolitionist movement. It also indicates that Henry has arrived in a safe place.
Metaphor: Page 35; “…rattling song of the train wheels.”
Symbolism: Pages 25-26; “THIS SIDE UP WITH CARE” is written on the box where Henry is hiding. This statement is emphasized in the artwork on pages 29-30, when Henry (in the box) is loaded into the train car for shipment. “Dr. Smith begged the clerks to be careful. But they didn’t listen. They threw the box into the baggage car.” This symbolizing the rough treatment which Henry has always received at the hands of white men. On pages 34-35, the reader sees white men roughly handling the crate, once again symbolizing the mishandling Henry has received at the hands of white men throughout his life
Symbolism: Page 38; Henry was born again when he obtained his freedom on March 30, 1849, in Philadelphia.
Symbolism: Pages 5-6; The large size of the master’s sickbed emphasizing his importance and power he holds in Henry and his mother’s world
Symbolism: Page 19; Overcast gray sky threatening a storm symbolize the storm brewing in Henry’s heart
Repetition: Song: Page 12, “Henry felt like singing.” Page 14, Henry is singing in the picture. Page 21, “Henry no longer sang.” Page 24, “Henry heard singing.” Page 35, “He fell asleep to the rattling song of the train wheels.”
Book cover picture retrieved from http://www.ellenlevineauthor.com/works.htm
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