Freedom Song: The Story of Henry &quot;Box&quot; Brown
Much admired for her well-researched history and science nonfiction titles, Walker here explores the life of a slave who famously made his escape to freedom by squeezing into a crate bound for Philadelphia. As revealed in the author&#x2019;s note, Walker was intrigued by the role song played in Brown&#x2019;s life, and her affecting, homespun narrative imagines how singing helped him endure extreme hardship: &#x201C;As Henry worked &#x2019;neath Virginia&#x2019;s hot sun, he sang his workday song. Its lift, tote, toss-the-sack words sent strength to his arms.&#x201D; Like Ellen Levine&#x2019;s Henry&#x2019;s Freedom Box (2007), Walker&#x2019;s text touches on Brown&#x2019;s childhood and his heartrending separation from his wife and children, but much of the book is devoted to the claustrophobia-inducing details of the slave&#x2019;s incredible escape. Qualls&#x2019; acrylic, pencil, and collage artwork, featuring a somber palette of black, brown, and blue, is particularly well suited to the subject, and the dynamically composed illustrations ratchet up the drama of this heroic tale. Grades 1-3. --Kristen McKulski