Friday, July 8, 2011

Henry's Freedom Box

Henry's Freedom Box
Caldecott Honor Book


Levine, E. (2007). Henry's freedom box.  New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Exposition:
Henry was a slave, a piece of property with not even a birthday.  He worked with his family in the master's house.  The master was pretty good to them.

Conflict:
Henry can't live and work for his master after his family is taken away.  He is too sad.  He decides to find freedom.

Rising Action:
Henry's master was very ill and he decided to give Henry to his son.  Henry worked for him in the factory, got married and had children of his own. This master was not as nice.   Henry finds out that his wife and children were sold at the slave market.

Climax:
Henry ships himself in a box to Philadelphia, to freedom.

Falling Action:
He is thrown about in his box, put on a ship, and even used as seat.

Resolution:
He arrives in Philadelphia, his new birthday!

Illustrations:
I think the illustrations are good, but not my favorite.  They are large pictures that cover both pages with no white space.  They are dull and dark, which helps set the mood of the story.  They don't show a lot of depth or action though.

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