Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Caldecott Award Winner: Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Citation: Levine, E. (2007). Henry's freedom box: A true story from the underground railroad. New York: Scholastic Press.

Questions:
1. What did you like or dislike about the book?
I liked the book because it is very unlike any book on this subject. I like that this book is based on a funny true story about a slave named Henry Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom. I also liked the illustrations, which depict the hardships that Henry Brown faced. Students would enjoy following his journey to freedom. Something that I disliked was that I wanted to know if he reunited with his family, but the story ended before discussing this issue.

2. What in your life may have influenced your reaction or response to this book?
Something in my life that may have influenced my reaction is that I when I was little, I always wanted to try mailing myself to all kinds of different places. This idea fascinated me and I remember thinking that I was smart for thinking this, but for some reason, my parents never let me do this. :)

3. How would you compare this book to another book or books, or book or books by same author?
This book could be compared to Elijah of Buxton, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. The author also has a similar work titled If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad.

4. What new thing (information or insight) did you learn about children's literature in reading this book?
I learned about the lengths that someone was willing to go to obtain freedom. This story also showed that not all children’s stories are always “happy”; this story showed the hardships that the character had to face to get to freedom.

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