Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom

Gr 4 Up—Weatherford shares the story of Henry "Box" Brown, who was born into slavery in Richmond in the 1800s. Brown's birth family was divided after the death of their master. Later, Brown's pregnant wife and three children were sold and sent to North Carolina. In 1849, the same year Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery, Brown shipped himself in a wooden box to the American Anti-Slavery Society office in Philadelphia, successfully winning his freedom. Brown, given the nickname "Box" by abolitionists, promoted his escape by publishing an autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown. He created a performance piece ("Mirror of Slavery") that he exhibited in the United States, England, and Canada, solidifying his place in American history. Brown's story is conveyed in a series of sixains (a poem of six lines), mirroring the six sides of a box. Each poem is deceptively simple, but Weatherford's lush storytelling allows Brown's voice and story to come through clearly. The imagery is often as brutal as the history itself, and Brown is portrayed as a nuanced and complex human being, willing to do what is necessary to survive. Wood's mixed-media illustrations are dynamic and engaging. The details urge a second or third reading of the text. Bibliography and notes from the author and illustrator are included. VERDICT An artful and introspective retelling of the life of a remarkable man and a painful era in U.S. history. Weatherford's text paired with Wood's illustrations combine to offer a memorable work of nonfiction.—Casey O'Leary, Meredith Nicholson School 96, IN

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

A powerful assortment of colors, textures, and artistic styles illustrate this true story of how Henry "Box" Brown escaped enslavement in 1849 via a harrowing journey inside a sealed crate. "Inside/ One/ Box/ To/ Flee/ Another," explains one of the more than 50 short poems that comprise this vivid account. Told in Brown's voice, all but one contain six lines: the number of sides in a cube. Weatherford (The Roots of Rap) bases often-lyrical free verse on Brown's own narrative, excerpted in the opening spread. Detailed stanzas, each beginning with a single descriptive term, touch on the brutality of slavery ("Overseers"); the torment that awaited resisters ("Nat"); Brown's deep anguish over losing his first wife and children, sold and forever separated from him ("Courage"); and his subsequent life as a free man ("BOX"). His traumatic, stifling two-day journey ("Baggage") from Virginia to Philadelphia occurs over several claustrophobic spreads. Elaborate mixed-media collages by Wood (Clap Your Hands) employ a box motif, featuring Escher-like cubes alongside folded paper and painted quilt squares. A timeline, notes, and bibliography conclude this rich retelling of Brown's courageous escape. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)■

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Brown's story never gets old, and this illustrated biography is rich in context and detail that make it heavier on history and better for slightly older readers than, for instance, Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson's Henry's Freedom Box (2007).Heartbreaking and legendary.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A powerful assortment of colors, textures, and artistic styles illustrate this true story of how Henry "Box" Brown escaped enslavement in 1849 via a harrowing journey inside a sealed crate...His traumatic, stifling two-day journey ("Baggage") from Virginia to Philadelphia occurs over several claustrophobic spreads. Elaborate mixed-media collages by Wood (Clap Your Hands) employ a box motif, featuring Escher-like cubes alongside folded paper and painted quilt squares. A timeline, notes, and bibliography conclude this rich retelling of Brown's courageous escape.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

An artful and introspective retelling of the life of a remarkable man and a painful era in U.S. history. Weatherford's text paired with Wood's illustrations combine to offer a memorable work of nonfiction.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Weatherford's moving, poetic verse gives the story a very personal tone as the reader becomes immersed in Brown's harrowing tale of loss and sorrow and his determination to be free...The mixed-media art uses collage elements effectively. Deep reds and bright blues and greens figure prominently, giving the art a somewhat vintage feel while still being vivid and vibrant. The book ends powerfully with a poem titled "AXIOM" "Freedom / Is / Fragile. / Handle / With / Care."
—The Horn Book (starred review)

Alongside Weatherford's spare verses, Wood's paintings fairly explode with vivid visual motifs of quilts and confinement, with thickly brushed images rigidly squeezed and folded within borders that strain to hold them...Middle grade- and school readers are at an ideal age to begin unpacking Brown's story, and the harmonious interplay of word and image will invite youth with strong preference for either literary or visual formats to join in common discussion of the concept of freedom.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

Mixed-media illustrations combine thickly textured figures and backgrounds, collage, and painted, folded paper to create images with three-dimensional qualities. As the illustrator says in her note, the pictures convey deep suffering, hope, and determination. Cubic shapes appear frequently, echoing and amplifying the six lines of each poem. Intended for older readers than Henry's Freedom Box (2007), the book artfully expresses difficult truths while being mindful of a child audience.
—Booklist