Historical Fiction

 


    Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine recently came through my library at work. This work follows the story of Henry Brown, a character based on a real-life man. Young Henry was born a slave and dreams of freedom for himself and his family. He eventually is sent to work in a factory and marries, but his dreams are once again crushed when his family is sold. One day, Henry has an idea while moving crates in the warehouse factory where he works. He is going to mail himself to freedom. 

    The time period is incredibly important to this story. Without the time period and setting, the plot itself would make no sense. Since this is loosely based on a true story, the characters and plots are very realistic to the time period and the story is full of time period accurate details. The illustrations are representational, as they are all of realistic-looking people in realistic places/situations (Galda, 2016). 

    One very important part of this story is the Underground Railroad. Kids will most likely be unfamiliar with this concept, so it'd be a good idea to open with an explanation of 1800s-era slavery, the Underground Railroad, and those that helped slaves escape to freedom. After reading the story, there could be a class discussion on what the students learned from this book. Some class discussions could go as follows:

Teacher: "What is one thing we can learn from the people who helped with the Underground Railroad?"
Students: {various answers}

OR

Teacher: "We're going to go around the room now and name one new thing we each learned from this book and the lesson. Don't worry about repeating things!"
Students: {various answers}

    I had never seen this book or heard of this author until a copy was donated to the school library I work in currently. I think it's extremely important for children to be exposed to history this way, in a way they can understand. It's important to educate the next generation on their history from a young age, and this is everyone's history, both black and white. 

REFERENCES:
1. Galda, L. (2016). Literature and the Child (9th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://reader2.yuzu.com/books/9781305854987

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