Night Boat to Freedom

This book pretty much moved me to tears. It is told in first person by a young boy named Christmas John who finds himself playing an important role in the escape of slaves from the plantation where he lives with his grandmother. One by one he rows them across the waters to the banks of Ohio and freedom. With each person he saves his grandmother asks “what was the color of freedom tonight”, meaning what were the people wearing as she makes a quilt with every color represented. After everyone had escaped it was time for Christmas John to make the journey for himself, but he refuses to leave his grandmother behind. Together they make the dangerous trip through the woods, to his small boat, and across to freedom. When John asks his show more grandmother what color freedom was tonight she replies, holding up her completed quilt, that freedom was every color.
This is a beautiful book both in its words and illustrations. I would probably read this story to first or second graders. Although it is about the serious issue of slavery, because it is told through the eyes of a young boy, and has a very uplifting ending, I think it would make a good book to use in introducing the topic and discussing the bravory and love of Christmas John. show less

The book is about a boy called Christmas and his grandmother. They are both slaves living on a cotton plantation in Kentucky. Just over the river, is Ohio, a state in which slavery has already been abolished on that time. First, the boy helps other slaves to escape and by the end of the book he flees with his grandmother. As the book is not very long and explains with powerful pictures and few, but expressive sentences the anxiety of slaves. I would use that book when dealing with the topic slavery in school. This book is a good introduction for the, in my opinion topic escape of slaves. Then I would go on with freedom songs, the railroad etc.

This is such a strong story about escaping slavery. You are on edge the whole time as Christmas John tries to help slave after slave escape across the river to freedom. It is as if you are scared for him that he might just get caught one time. It is one of those books that keeps you wanting more. You want to change the page quickly to find out what is going to happen next.

A story about a young boy, his grandmother and the quilt she's making. She instructs her grandson to help other slaves escape during the night. He complies and successfully sends many off to the north to freedom. The time comes when she wants him to be free and she wants him to go alone because she may slow him down. He comes back for his grandmother and they escape together. For every slave that went free she would add a square to her quilt. The colors she picks would be the color of the escapee's shirt. I loved the flashback element to the book of the grandmother's story of how she became a slave. The pictures are beautiful. Maybe appropriate for 2-5 grades.

This was a strong story that used relatable characters and a simple structure to tell a foundational story in America, the escape from slavery. This story is a good addition to that all too heartbreaking canon, with strong characters, a straightforward journey, danger, and the narrative element of Granny Judith's multicolored threads and quilt of freedom. A simple story about American slavery that elementary age children can understand and learn from.

Teachers can use this story when teaching students about slavery, American history, and African American history. Public librarians may want to introduce it for Black History Month, programming relating to American history, and outreach to schools.

Born on Christmas was how Christmas John got his name. He was born a slave, a Kentucky slave. Granny Judith told Christmas John her story of how she was captured in Africa. It was a red cloth that served as bait. By the time she had gotten the cloth, the boat had gotten her. Off to America. Off to slavery. Granny Judith dyed thread of many colors on that plantation. She had heard of a way to escape to the north. Christmas John was going to paddle the boat to help people escape to Ohio. All she wanted to know was what color were they wearing. Those colors became woven together on Granny Judith's freedom quilt, with just 2 more patches to be filled. Christmas John and Granny Judith finally made the crossing to freedom, leaving behind the show more color of slavery. show less

Night Boat to Freedom is about a young boy, Christmas John, who was born into slavery. He was taken care of by a women he called Granny Judith, who was taken as a young girl from her home in Africa. Through Granny Judith's persuasion, every night Christmas John would row some of the slaves on his plantation across the river to freedom in Ohio. He did this for over a year and finally, him and Granny Judith both made it across the river to freedom as well. For these reasons, to me, the moral of the story is perseverance. Christmas John trusted Granny Judith and, through strong will, he succeeded at his task.