Ellen Levine (1) (1939–2012)

A picture book that introduces American slavery to the very young.

Levine successfully depicts one of slavery's most craven aspects: separating families. It omits overt brutalities but that makes the one aspect of slavery--the hopelessness of losing all of one's family--all the more poignant. First, Henry is given to another family at a young age, and then as a grown man his own wife and children are sold away for financial reasons, while he is working. It breaks your heart.

The illustrations show more are a large part of the power and impact of the story. They are realistic and beautiful.

I've decided not to read this to my Littles, my two young granddaughters. Such a realistic treatment of this subject is best left up to their parents because it might require on-going, emotionally supportive talks.

I only wish the author had added, as many non-fiction picture books do, an addendum for adults that tells more of the history of Henry "Box" Brown. show less

"Henry's Freedom Box" by Ellen Levine is the story of a slave's life that eventually ends in freedom. The book's illustrations are great and they always build upon the text. The illustrations of Henry inside the box really stand out in my memory. The reader is able to visualize and imagine what being stuck in a box for a long journey would be like. The writing of the story feels believable and at times very intense. I praise the book for shedding light on the families separated by slavery, show more without sugar coating it. The fact that the reader never learns what happened to Henry's mother is heartbreaking yet accurate. "Henry's Freedom Box" has undoubtedly earned its prestigious award and has become an instant classic in African American literature. show less

NOT what I was expecting from the cover! The baby otter is separated from his mother, picked up by wildlife rescuer scientists, put in with an adoptive mother, and eventually returned to the ocean, but never reunited with his own mother. Emotionally, this was Dumbo all over again. Gorgeous illustrations, though, and some nice animal facts, like how otters crack open clam, oyster, and crab shells on rocks to get the meat out.

More than anything henry wanted to know his birthday. But Henry was a slave. Slaves had no right to anything, not even the knowledge of when they were born. Henry longed for freedom, just like others I suppose. He thought that Master was going to free him and his mother because he was ill. To Henry's, not his mother's, surprise, Henry was "given" to Master's son, a mean tobacco farmer who got being Master right....right down to the beatings. Regardless of being a slave, Henry tried to live. show more He met Nancy and fell in love. With the permission from their masters, they got married and had 3 children. To Henry's dismay, not to anyone's else's, his family was sold off. There was nothing he could do about it. This set Henry on a course to mail himself to freedom. With the help of one and the compassion of another, Henry was "boxed" up and shipped to Philadelphia, finally gaining his freedom. But was he really free, knowing that there were pieces in him of his wife and pieces of him in his children that were still, still slaves? show less