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BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
author: Carole Boston Weatherford
illustrator: Michele Wood
What have I to fear?
My master broke every promise to me.
I lost my beloved wife and our dear children.
All sold South. Neither my time nor my body is mine.
The breath of life is all I have to lose.
And bondage is suffocating me.
Long before he came to be known as Box, Henry Brown wrote that he “entered the world a slave.” Since childhood he was treated as property; as an adult, his wife and children were spitefully sold deeper South—away from him. What more could be taken from him? But then hope came in the form of the Underground Railroad. In stanzas of six lines, each line representing one side of a box, celebrated poet Carole Boston Weatherford powerfully narrates Henry Brown’s story of how he came to deliver himself from slavery in a box. Strikingly illustrated in rich hues by artist Michele Wood, this 2021 Newbery Honor Book is augmented with historical records and an introductory excerpt from Henry’s own writing, as well as a time line, notes from the author and illustrator, and a bibliography.
“An artful and introspective retelling of the life of a remarkable man and a painful era in U.S. history. . . . A memorable work of nonfiction.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
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suggested retail price (U.S./CAN):
$8.99 /
$11.99
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isbn-10/isbn-13:
1536227757 /
9781536227758
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on sale date:
09/2022
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type/format:
Non-Fiction - Picture Book / Paperback |
age range:
10 yrs and up
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# of pages/size:
56 / 10 5/8" x 9 1/16" |
grade range:
Grade 5 and up
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subjects:
Biography & Autobiography; African American & Black; Poetry;
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author’s comments:
Carole Boston Weatherford, a New York Times best-selling author and poet, was named the 2019 Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award winner. Her numerous books for children include the Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, illustrated by Floyd Cooper; the Caldecott Honor Books Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, which was also a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book; and the critically acclaimed Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library, illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Carole Boston Weatherford lives in North Carolina. |
illustrator’s comments:
Michele Wood is an illustrator, painter, filmmaker, and designer with a master’s in divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. She has won numerous awards for her illustration work, including a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, as well as a nomination for an NAACP Image Award. Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom is her first book with Candlewick Press. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
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