Red Sings From Treetops: A Year in Colors (Module 3)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. 2009. Red Sings From Treetops: A Year in Colors. Ill by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 9780547014944

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Sidman’s free verse poetry uses colors to describe the seasons, following the calendar year from spring to summer to fall to winter. From the joy of a spring rain to the frozen fun of winter, the reader will find enjoyment in each season and the colors that it imbues.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The book begins and ends with the “cheer-cheer-cheer” of red “each note drops / like a cherry / into / my / ear.” With this, Sidman really sets the tone for her book in that each color is personified and given delightful characteristics in each season. She also uses the five senses to help create a richer experience of the colors actions: “In spring, / even the rain tastes Green,” “Fall smells / Purple,” and “Red hops to treetops, fluffs its feathers / against the cold.” Because of the personification of each color, the images are vivid and create surprising mental pictures of the colors being incredibly active throughout the year.

Careful word choice in each poem brings it alive with alliteration, consonance, and onomatopoeia. In Spring, yellow and purple are “first flowers, / first friends” and white “sounds like storms.” In Summer, white “clinks in drinks” and gray eats a bug “Snap!”. In Fall, red is an apple “crunch!” and yellow is a bus “Warning—classrooms ahead.” In Winter, “pink prickles,” “blue breathes,” and “white whispers.” Sidman’s free verse lines flow from short to long in the same poem creating a wonderful read aloud.

The illustrations are delightful and playful, fitting the tone of the poetry. The character Zagarenski created is simple, yet brings so much joy to the illustrations as s/he wanders from season to season, color to color enjoying it all. By having the colors so vividly shown throughout the seasons, it helps to express how the colors really blend from season to season. There is a great use of mixed media within each illustration that heightens the creativity. Especially wonderful are the use of cut-out words, like “circle” on the wheel the character stands on in spring or “winter/December” on the scarf worn in the winter.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Awarded Caldecott Honor Medal
• Booklist starred review: “Throughout, the mixed-media illustrations, including collage and paintings on wood, provide much to look at. And as the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page do sing.”
• Horn Book starred review: “A poet known for multilayered explorations of nature rejoices here in the way colors, and how we perceive them, change with the seasons.”
• Kirkus starred review: “The seasons flow into each other, bringing readers full circle. Fresh descriptions and inventive artistry are a charming inspiration to notice colors and correlate emotions. Details in the artwork will invite repeated readings and challenge kids to muse about other color icons.”
• School Library Journal review: “Some of Zagarenski's mixed-media paintings are full of light and others are darker and slightly haunting, but the rich colors come to life on the page. The words and pictures depend upon one another and blend well to conjure up quirky, magical imagery.”

5. CONNECTIONS

• Invite students to think of their favorite color during their favorite season. Help them explore the five senses with that color and season in mind (e.g. How does green sound in the summer?). Once they have done some brainstorming, have the students write poems celebrating each season. Group the poems by season and display in the library.
• Joyce Sidman’s website has both a reader’s guide and video of her speaking about this book. She also has “poem starters” and offers to post some of the kid-authored poems that are submitted to her. Spend time with your students exploring this website and encourage them to submit poetry to her: http://www.joycesidman.com/Index.html
• Other illustrated books about the four seasons:

Gibbons, Gail. The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree. ISBN: 9780152712464

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, ed. Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems. ISBN: 9781416902102

Lin, Grace and Ranida McKneally. Our Seasons. ISBN: 9781570913600

Rosenstiehl, Agnes. Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons: A Toon Book. ISBN: 9780979923814

My Man Blue (Module 3)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grimes, Nikki. 1999. My Man Blue. Ill by Jerome Lagarrigue. NewYork: Puffin. ISBN 0329292110

2. PLOT SUMMARY
My Man Blue follows a kid, Damon, and his mother’s old friend, Blue. The book begins with Damon and his mother’s move to an urban neighborhood where they first meet up with Blue. Although wary at first, Damon accepts Blue’s friendship with the understanding that Blue wants to help fill the whole Damon’s father left and keep Damon from being swallowed up by the streets the way Blue’s son was.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
There is nothing forced about Nikki Grimes’ writing. Her poems flow naturally in free verse form. She has organized this book to highlight the growth of the friendship and Damon’s growing courage and self-confidence. Poems balance in total length and line length with some having shorter, more staccato lines and others longer, more lyrical ones.

Blue and Damon’s friendship is filled with beautiful lessons of truth and courage. The emotions are raw and honest, like Damon’s telling Blue in the poem “Second Son:” “But I can’t take Zeke’s place.” Grimes delicately touches on discussions of fear, violence, and loss but maintains a hopeful voice throughout. This book has great appeal to many audiences (young and old) because of the chord of truth that it strikes.

“Damon & Blue” is most musical poem in its use of rhyme (“blue, two, avenue”), rhythm, and “s” sound. Other poems do not use rhyme but feature other literary devices like alliteration. For example, “Like Blue” has a lot of “b” in it (be, Blue, black, built, boxing, but). There is much that can be highlighted to students about how poets craft their poems in this book.

The strength of this book really comes in Grimes’ ability to touch on deep themes while not feeling forced or trite. In the “Class Bully,” we are surprised to see that the bully is a girl and given another surprise as Damon refuses to hit her back: “It’s guys / who don’t hit girls / Who’re strong.” Grimes also writes of fear in two poems. In “Fearless,” Blue takes Damon to climb a tree: “And urges me to loop / my fear like twine / around a branch and use / the rope to climb.” This is such a great image of how to use fear to our advantage. In one of the more tender poems about a shooting at school, “The Plan,” Damon personifies and addresses fear directly: “So, Mister Fear, / If you’re listening, / You best be leaving / Now.”

Lagarrigue’s illustrations are a perfect companion to the book. They are soft acrylic paintings, filled with deep colors and are slightly gritty looking to emphasize the urban feel. The paintings seem blurred, yet truly exemplify the intense emotions of the book. In many ways, they really personify Blue himself—soft, yet tough.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Publishers Weekly starred review: “Though each of these accomplished poems could easily stand alone, together they form an enticing story.”
• School Library Journal review: “Lagarrigue debuts with a set of twilit, impressionistic, sparsely populated street scenes in which Blue, with his shaven head and heavy frame, leans hugely but attentively toward his diminutive companion. Damon mentions his mother several times, but because she appears in the illustrations only once, she remains a background presence as man and boy bond.”
• Newsweek review: “[This is one] of this year’s best children’s books. . . . [It] sneaks in a bit of wisdom (it’s OK for African-American boys to cook and read), but mostly it’s the story of a kid and his mother’s boyfriend warming to each other.”

5. CONNECTIONS

• Jerome Lagarrigue’s artistry should be delved into deeper by observing some of his other illustrated works. These include Freedom Summer (ISBN: 9780689830167), Me and Uncle Romie (ISBN: 9780803725201), Going North (ISBN: 9780374326814), and Poetry for Young People: Maya Angelou (ISBN: 9781402720239).
• For older students (grades 5-8), Nikki Grimes has written another book about fathers and father-figures, Dark Sons (ISBN: 9780786818884). My Man Blue would be a great introduction to this longer book and could set the tone for discussing father-son relationships.
• Other books about fear that can be compared and contrasted because they take a lighter look at the theme:

Henkes, Kevin. Wemberly Worried. ISBN: 9780688170288

Mayer, Mercer. There’s an Alligator Under My Bed. ISBN: 9780803703742

Seuss, Dr. What Was I Scared Of? ISBN: 9780375958670

Waber, Bernard. Courage. ISBN: 9780618238552

Easy Work (Module 2)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kimmel, Eric. 1998. Easy Work. Ill. by Andrew Glass. New York: Holiday House. ISBN: 0823413497

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Easy Work is a retelling of a traditional Norwegian tale of the stereotypical husband-wife roles and its reversal. Mr. McTeague, who is tired of working so hard, suggests that his wife’s work at home is “easy work.” They decide to switch jobs the next day. As he goes throughout the day’s chores, the refrain of “easy work” continues. He thinks he has solved all the days problems in a smart manner by 1) wearing his wife’s dress to milk the cow, 2) tying a rope between his own leg and the cow’s as it grazes, 3) throwing the dog bacon while tying the dog’s tail to the crib of the crying baby, and 4) churning the butter by tying another rope from the churn to his other leg while rocking in a chair (whew!). Inevitably, the “easy work” ends in disaster as he falls asleep, burns down the house, loses the cow, almost loses the baby, breaks the crib, and ruins his wife’s dress. It all ends well though, as “eventually everything was set to rights.” The baby is ok, the cow comes back, and they rebuild their house.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The repeated phrase, “easy work,” never lets the reader forget the true theme of the book and works well in foreshadowing the disaster ahead. The more it is said, the more the reader sees how complicated the situation is really getting. Kimmel moves the action along swiftly with a lot of active verbs and well-placed descriptions. He focuses his writing on the action, not in overly describing the scene. Even when describing what Mrs. McTeague finds at the end of the day, verbs are crucial to the description (i.e. baby crying, cat lapping, dog gnawing). The dialogue is amusing and keeps with the time period, adding depth to the setting and humor of the story. For example, we hear Mr. McTeague use the phrases: “Jumping Jerusalem,” “Holly Hannah,” and “Golly Neds.”

Glass’s illustrations have a soft comical feel that captures the mood of the story and the time period. The cross-hatched style exudes the time period and, more importantly, the protagonist of our story because the style of artwork leaves an unfinished and harried, yet colorful, impression—just like Mr. McTeague. The expressions on the character’s faces (even on the animals) are especially well-drawn and add a lot to the humor of the book.

In the end, the lesson is taught that staying at home is not “easy work,” yet the book is not a preachy, treatise to woman’s rights. Instead, it is an amusing look at traditional roles that leads to more mutual respect all around.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Booklist review: “Kimmel pours a classic Norwegian folktale into an American pot, and Glass brings it to a rolling boil with dappled scenes of domestic chaos.”
• Horn Book review: “A boisterous retelling of a Norwegian tale.”
• School Library Journal review: “Glass's lively illustrations are done in a scratchy, folksy style and suit the text perfectly.”

5. CONNECTIONS

• Two traditional songs are mentioned in the book (“Sweet Betsy from Pike” and “Little Brown Jug”). Both of these songs can be located in the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/index.html) and played online. Familiarity with these tunes can allow the reader to sing along with Mr. McTeague.
  

Sweet Betsy from Pike: http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afcts/audio/409/4099a2.mp3

Little Brown Jug: http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afccc/audio/a334/a3348a2.mp3

• This book is based on a Norwegian folktale by P. C. Asbjornsen (The Man Who Kept House). Other Norwegian folktales by Asbjornsen:

East of the Sun and West of the Moon and Other Tales. Available online in e-book format.

The Runaway Pancake. ISBN 9780883321379

The Squire’s Bride. ISBN 9780689304637

The Three Billy Goats Gruff. ISBN 9780816430802

The 3 Little Dassies (Module 2)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brett, Jan. 2010. The 3 Little Dassies. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 9780399254994.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The three little dassies go out to build for themselves homes, with their hope being to be find “a place safe from big eagles.” They find a spot that looks good, and even though the Agama Man (lizard) mentions the eagles nearby, they decide to build. The first builds with grass and then takes a nap, the second with driftwood and then takes a nap, but the third takes all day to build her sturdy house of stone. The next morning the eagle easily destroys the first two houses and carries the dassies back up to his nest. He cannot get to the third dassie because of her sturdy home, but after he realizes that his first two dassies are gone (rescued by a lizard), he even tries the chimney. In the end, the three dassies are no longer ever bothered by the eagle again because his singed tail feathers have blackened all eagle feathers from then on. The final page reveals Brett's retelling to be a pourquoi tale explaining the lives of the dassies, the lizard, and the eagle.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Brett’s African version of “The Three Little Pigs” was inspired by her own trip to Namibia. The culture does comes through in the writing by the names that she chooses but shines through the most through her illustrations. In the author's note, we find the Brett gave the dassies the dresses and turbans of the Herero women and used elements of Africa within her story. The result is a delightful combination of African vibrancy and the traditional look of Brett's illustrations.

Brett delightfully tailors the story to her African characters. For example, the traditional “huff and puff” line is changed for an eagle with, “I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your house in!”. All the characters end up alive and well at the end, thanks to the lizard saving the dassies and the eagle only getting a color change through the singeing of its feathers. As usual with many of Brett’s illustrations, the side illustrations push the story along. The daring rescue of the lizard happens entirely on the sides of the main illustrations. I’ll admit I was so focused on the main panels that I only caught him halfway through the act and had to go back to look again.

The traditional moral of not being lazy is retained as the first two dassies are caught by the eagle due to their laziness in not building homes out of sturdier materials (shown through the desire to build quickly and then take a nap). A secondary moral of not being greedy is also incorporated as the book mentions the eagle’s greed in trying to capture all three dassies.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Horn Book review: “Brett uses an eye-catching variety of multicolored patterns.”
• Kirkus review: “Brett uses her magical watercolor-and-gouache paintings to create a distinctive visual world.”
• Publishers Weekly review: “A buoyant and original reimagining.”
• School Library Journal review: “This tale will captivate children and introduce a setting and animals unfamiliar to most of them.”

5. CONNECTIONS

• Brett’s website provides many activities, including coloring pages, email postcards, computer games, and reader’s theater scripts. This book has a reader’s theater script that could be used as a great follow-up: http://www.janbrett.com/3_little_dassies_reader_theater.htm
• Get your readers familiar with Jan Brett’s style by looking at more of her books. Recommended ones are The Mitten; Town Mouse, Country Mouse; Armadillo Rodeo; and The Umbrella.
• Other familiar traditional tales set in Africa:
  


Isadora, Rachel. The Princess and the Pea. ISBN: 9780142413937

Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale. ISBN: 9780688040451

Daly, Nikki. Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story. ISBN: 9780618723454

The Three Pigs (Module 2)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wiesner, David. 2001. The Three Pigs. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 0618007016

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Starting out as a traditional telling of “The Three Little Pigs,” this book soon shows that it's actually a fractured retelling when the first pig gets blown out of the illustration by the big bad wolf. Following that, the three pigs all leave the story on a paper airplane (made from a page of their own story) and find themselves in a storybook world with pages of stories everywhere. The pigs venture through “Hey Diddle Diddle” and a fairy tale, picking up the Cat and the Fiddle and rescuing a dragon, before they all settle back down in the third pig's brick house. The wolf doesn't seem to have really caught on to the changes in his own story until the dragon pops out, scaring him away, and everyone else lives "happily ever aft...".

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The writing style begins with the traditional folk tale style but then shines with Wiesner's sense of humor. The pigs' dialogue is shown in speech bubbles during their time in the storybook world and is simple yet humorous. Each character maintains speech patterns from their own story, i.e. the dragon is shown as speaking with a royal flair: "O brave and noble swine."

The real star of the whole book, though, are the illustrations. The beginning shows four pictures per page, set up almost like slides. This then allows for the pig to be blown out of his own story, yet still remain on our page. It also sets us up for the storybook world that follows with pages from other stories all around.

Wiesner handles the traditional violence of the story through his illustrations. Even as the words claim that the wolf “ate the pig up.” The reader just saw the pig blown right out of the illustration one slide earlier. The wolf looks a bit confused, but the story keeps right on, claiming he ate the second pig, even though the illustrations again show an entirely different story.

When the pigs are no longer in their story, Wiesner brilliantly changes his artistic style to portray them more realistically. The pages of the pigs flying on their airplane are delightful. Who can't smile at glee on their faces or those curly, little piggy tails? Each story they enter has a different style of illustration and the pigs take on that style while within that story.

Finally, the illustrations help end the story as the dragon knocks the words down while scaring away the wolf. The characters capture the letters, so that the third pig can write out, “And they all lived happily ever after,” on the last page—allowing those pigs to finally write their own version of the story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Caldecott Award book
• Booklist starred review: “Not only breaks apart and deliciously reinvents the pigs' tale, it invites readers to step beyond the boundaries of story and picture book altogether.”
• Horn Book starred review: “A fantastic journey told with a light touch.”
• School Library Journal starred review: “Witty dialogue and physical comedy abound in this inspired retelling of a familiar favorite.”
  

5. CONNECTIONS

• Wiesner won the Caldecott for Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and Flotsam (2007). He received Caldecott Honors for Free Fall (1988) and Sector 7 (1999). Compare and contrast the illustrations on each of these books to see if you can find how each one is different yet bears his signature style.
• Other stories with “The Three Little Pigs” tale:
  

Brett, Jan. The 3 Little Dassies. ISBN: 9780399254994.

Kellogg, Steven. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780064437790.

Marshall, James. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780448422886.

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. ISBN: 9780140544510.

Millions of Cats (Module 1)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ga’g, Wanda. 1928. Millions of Cats. New York, NY: Coward-McCann. ISBN 9780142407080

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The story begins with an old man and woman who are lonely. She decided she wants a cat, so her husband goes on a search for one. He walked a long time to find a hill covered in cats. Because the man couldn’t decide which one he liked the best, he came home with “hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats.” Once home, his wife pointed out they could never care for so many cats. So, they asked the cats which one was the best looking. A fight ensued, and all that was left was homely cat that had not fought to be the prettiest. The couple took that cat in and in time, he became “the most beautiful cat in the whole world.”

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The most striking aspect of this book is the hand drawn text, which is so unique to publishing. The simple black and white drawings complement the story well as we get a visual on all those cats. The drawings leave us with a feeling that there really are a trillion cats pictured because they seem to disappear off the page without end. The illustrations also add quaint touches to the story, like the wedding pictures hanging in the home of the old man and woman at the end of the book.

The writing itself has a timeless folktale appeal. There rhythmic phrase, “Hundreds of cats,/ Thousands of cats,/ Millions and billions and trillions of cats,” is repeated multiple times in the book, making it a fun read-aloud. The only literary image (not shown in illustrations) that is slightly disturbing is how the cat fight ended because they “must have eaten each other all up.” This, however, is not overly gruesome and enhances its folktale-like quality.

The overall message is not preachy but subtle. Ga’g allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the tale as a whole. The theme of humility versus pride/vanity cannot be overlooked, though.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Newbery Honor book—a rarity for a picture book
• School Library Journal's “One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century”: “This Newbery Honor winner is distinguished by innovative design and a strong storyteller's cadence.”
• Review in The New York Times: “A perennial favorite.”
  

5. CONNECTIONS

• This book can easily be tied into the classic tale on self-esteem, The Ugly Duckling, where an animal finds itself turning from homeliness to beauty.
  
• As the couple is lonely and looking for companionship, Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett (ISBN: 9780399251610) gives us another book on this topic of loneliness. In this tale, the gingerbread baby is lonely and looking for friends. There are quite a few who try to follow him home (although not for friendly reasons), but in the end, he finds what he was looking for right where he started—at home.
• The Funny Thing and Snippy and Snappy are considered companion stories to Millions of Cats. These were once all published together in Wanda Ga'g's Story Book. Reading these together gives a great look at early picture books.
  
• Other books about pets:
  

Child, Lauren. I Want a Pet. ISBN 9781582462387

Lee, Spike and Tonya Lewis Lee. Please, Puppy, Please. Ill. by Kadir Nelson. ISBN: 9780689868047

Middleton, Charlotte. Do You Still Love Me? ISBN: 9780763622541.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Module 1)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stead, Phillip C. 2010. A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Ill. by Erin E. Stead. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 9781596434028

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Amos McGee is a zookeeper whose every movement is measured and habitual. His routine moves with calm ease from awaking to getting ready for work to arriving and spending time with each of his friends in the zoo. The friends are all animals with distinctive characteristics that play with stereotypes for that animal (i.e. the elephant thinks a lot, the tortoise wins every race, etc.). Amos’s routine is broken when he is sick, and it really bothers his friends that he is missing. Their logical conclusion is to go visit him. Of course, the charm of it all is that this requires some rather large animals getting on a bus, entering a house, and even spending the night.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Philip Stead uses repetition with a twist in this book to turn the habitual behavior of Amos on its head. When Amos first visits the animals, each has its own characteristics and actions. As the animals visit Amos, the characteristics of the animals turn out to be characteristics of Amos also. This creates an engaging memory device for readers as they can anticipate what Amos will do with each animal at his house.

Erin Stead’s illustrations help keep the story moving at an even pace. On many of the pages, there is either a little mouse, little bird, or red balloon sitting amongst the scenery, which adds a layer of fun hide-and-seek to the pages. In the middle of the book, the illustrations convey the whole story without text in a delightful manner as the animals leave the zoo, wait for the bus, ride the bus, and arrive at Amos’s house. The woodblock printing and pencil gives the illustrations a light feel that enhances the overall cozy mood of the book. She rightfully deserved to receive the Caldecott award for such detailed and well-drawn characters that convey emotion so easily (even the animals).

The theme of the book, friendship, is portrayed in the dedication and care that Amos takes with each animal. As the author shows how each aspect of the animal turns out to be an aspect that Amos himself carries, the lesson deepens, and we learn that friendship and similarities can be found in spite of huge differences (even between species).

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Caldecott Award Book
• ALA Notable book
• Starred review in Kirkus: “This gentle, ultimately warm story acknowledges the care and reciprocity behind all good friendships.”
• Starred review in Horn Book: “The attentively detailed pencil and woodblock illustrations reveal character and enhance the cozy mood of the gentle text.”
• New York Times review: “It delightfully takes its loony scenario for granted.”
  

5. CONNECTIONS

• On the page that shows Amos leaving the house, we see that his house is set in the middle of huge apartments. This falls in line with a character that is so habitual and steady that he isn’t concerned with the modernization of the world. When considering this topic, the classic book The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (ISBN 039525938X ) can be used to illustrate how even though time moves on not everything has to modernize.
• Another fun book about role reversals between humans and animals is Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown (ISBN 0316015482). Readers can brainstorm other ways we could reverse the human-animal roles or characteristics of humans that can also be found in animals.
• Other books about feeling sick:
  

Hayes, Geoffrey. Patrick and the Get Well Day. ISBN 0-7868-0719-9

Rockwell, Anne and Harlow. Sick In Bed. ISBN 0-02-777730-8

Wiseman, Bernard. Morris Has a Cold. ISBN 0-396-07522-3

Dealey, Erin. Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox. Ill. by Hanako Wakiyama. ISBN 978-0-689-87610-3

Henry's Freedom Box (Module 1)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Levine, Ellen. 2007. Henry's Freedom Box. Ill. By Kadir Nelson. New York, NY: Scholastic. ISBN 9780439777339

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Ellen Levine’s prose coupled with Kadir Nelson’s illustrations creates in this book an incredibly moving fictionalized version of Henry Brown’s journey from slave to free man. The book opens with Henry as a child and states matter-of-factly that he doesn’t know how old he is because “slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthdays.” The plot quickly moves from tragedy to tragedy as Henry is taken from his mother then later loses his wife and children as they are sold elsewhere while he is at work. With nothing to lose and freedom to gain, Henry decides to mail himself in a shipping crate to Philadelphia. Tension builds as his journey takes place, but he is successful and later becomes known as Henry “Box” Brown.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Levine uses statements of fact in an understated way, which gets her point across without preaching. For example, she states simply that “slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthdays” and “slaves didn’t dare sing in the streets.” These facts are shocking and yet treated with such simplicity that children should quickly grasp the horrific life Brown was leading without touching on the graphic details of slavery.

While writing simply, Levine does not ignore imagery in her language. Henry’s mother uses a simile when describing leaves blowing: “They are torn from the trees like slave children are torn from their families.” This statements turns out to be foreshadowing. As Henry is actually being taken from his mother, the leaf image is again played out. The image of a bird and its freedom is also used both when Brown is taken from his mother and the moment he decides to find his own freedom.

Nelson’s illustrations convey such deep emotion throughout while not over-sentimentalizing such a tragic story. The jacket states that he was inspired by a lithograph of Henry Box Brown and tried to recreate this look with his illustrations using cross-hatched pencil lines, water color, and oil. By doing so, the illustrations add crucial details of setting for young readers, especially time period. Nelson’s use of close-ups and wide-framed illustrations drive the plot along and help portray the intense emotions. Tension is heightened as Henry is shown in the box being turned different ways. It is no surprise that Kadir Nelson was awarded a Caldecott Honor for his work in this book.

This book does an incredible job of not just telling the reader about the evils of slavery, but rather simply showing it through the tragic events in Henry Brown’s life. Children should quickly grasp that freedom and personal liberty are worth risking everything for and that keeping someone from that liberty is one of the worst acts man can commit.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Caldecott Honor Book
• ALA Notable Book
• Starred review in Horn Book: “Transcending technique is the humanity Nelson imbues in his characters”
• Starred review in Booklist: “There is no sugarcoating; however, the conclusion is moving and satisfying.”
• Starred review in Kirkus: “This is a story of pride and ingenuity that will leave readers profoundly moved.”
  

5. CONNECTIONS

• This book is excellent source for beginning discussions on slavery and the underground railroad. The K-W-L (know-want-learn) strategy would work well in teaching this book.
  
• Nelson has many other books that portray African Americans throughout history. Collect these stories and look at how he uses his artwork to convey setting as he did with this book.
• Other picture books about the Underground Railroad:

Mortensen, Lori. Harriet Tubman: hero of the Underground Railroad. ISBN 9781404831032

Riggio, Anita. Secret signs: along the Underground Railroad. ISBN 9781590780725