2. z
About the book
Henry’s Freedom Box written by
Ellen Lavine and illustrated by Kadir
Nelson was published in 2007 and
received the Randolph Caldecott
Medal for illustration in 2008. This is
a true story about a slave who
mailed himself to freedom. It opens
with a young boy who is ripped from
his family and sold to another slave
owner. The audience sees Henry
grow up and create a family of his
own before his wife and children
were also sold to another slave
owner. With no family left he decided
to attempt to gain his freedom.
3. z
Style and Media
The illustration style is realism.
According to google realism is
defined as “the quality or fact of
representing a person, thing, or
situation accurately or in a way
that is true to life”. The illustration
in this book are true to
representing real life in this
historical time period. This style is
important because this is such a
serious and heart breaking book
that the authors needed to have
realism to help students
understand the reality of the
situation.
4. z
Line
Line is very important in this
book. Although lines on the
illustration is not prominent,
the shading is eye-catching.
Hatching and cross-hatching
are lines that appear in every
page. These lines make the
book feel aged and historical.
They also feel calming and
comforting because they are
soft and faint.
5. z
Shape
Most shapes in this book are
complex, except one very
important shape that stands
out, a rectangle. This box is
portrayed as big, at least big
enough to fit a person. This
rectangular prism is an
important symbol of freedom in
the story. Henry was stuck in
the box for a long period of
time just so he could escape to
freedom.
6. z
Color
The colors that are used are
dull, dark colors. Majority of
the colors used were black,
brown, dark red, blue, and
white. The only light sources
are the sun and fire, so most
of the scenes are dark to
portray life accurately during
this time period. This creates
a mood of hurt and sadness.
7. z
Texture
The illustrations are three-
dimensional and demonstrate
texture on every page. The
illustrator does this by using
highlights and shading. There is
also layers of colors and lines that
make the images have texture.
The illustrator makes most objects
appear hard to portray the
uncomfortableness. As an
example the brick wall and
wooden stool in this picture. Even
his pants look scratchy and
uncomfortable.
8. z
Composition
All images are dominantly focused
on the characters. There is very
little background and often the
background is black with only the
characters on the page. The
illustrations are mostly balanced
with only a few off centered
scenes. I think that the lack of
background really emphasizes and
makes the reader focus on the
characters and their emotion
instead of being distracted by
background images.
