Henry's Freedom Box

By Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson

Henry's Freedom Box follows the life of a slave named Henry. He grew up not knowing his birthday or if he would be with his family the next day. When Henry's master dies, he is taken from his family and given to his master's son. He works for years. As he got older he met a woman named Nancy. After permission from their masters, they got married. But times weren't good for Nancy's master and she and their children were sold one day. Henry never sees his family again. Losing his family was the last straw for Henry and he couldn't bare to work another day for his master. He devises a plan with the help of his friend and a white Doctor to mail himself to Philadelphia, and to freedom.

This story is based on a true story of one of the most famous slaves of the Underground Railroad. Henry "Box" Brown, mailed himself to freedom. At the end of the story there is a paragraph about the real Henry that tells you about his life, and the history of the Underground Railroad. This story is one of many that can be used to help illustrate slavery to students in elementary schools. You start the story with Henry as a child which is helpful for children because they can relate to children much better than adults. I believe it would also answer the question many children have growing up, "can I mail myself?"

Heroes of the Surf

By Elisa Carbone and Nancy Carpenter

This story is based on an actual event that took place in 1882 a British ship left from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil headed for New York City. Off the coast of New Jersey, the ship ran aground during a bad storm. The captain of the ship sent up an emergency signal that was fortunately seen by the Heroes of the Surf, the surfman of the United States Life-Saving Service. They were able to help all of the passengers aboard the ship safely get to shore. This story follows two young boy passengers aboard the ship as they role play as pirates all the way from Rio. This story lets you see an amazing event through the eyes of a child on board in the form of a diary entry.

This story would be a great read aloud during the topic of immigration. Many immigrants came by ship to the United States and I'm sure more than one had some trouble getting here. Having a book written from the point of view of a child from Rio could make the topic of immigration a lot more relate-able for children!

Elsie's Bird

By Jane Yolen and David Small

Elsie's Bird is a story that puts you in the shoes of a young girl during the time of expansion in the United States. Elsie has grown up in Boston and loved the sound of the harbor and the songs she sang in church. She played outside in the cobblestone streets skipping rope with her friends all day long. When her mother dies he father becomes sad. He longs for some happiness away from the place that now held sad memories as well. He decides to move the family out west to Nebraska. Elsie is sad to leave but hides it from her father. She is given a canary that she names "Timmy Tune" to bring with her. For a while when she gets there, Elsie refuses to leave the house. She sings with Timmy all day long for company and cries herself to sleep at night. One day, Timmy gets out of his cage and flies away. Elsie lunges after him and into the tall grass, screaming his name. It is on this day, that she finally hears the sounds of the prairie and begins to feel at home.

This would be a great social studies read aloud for a class studying the expansion. It would be a great activity to read this book and have children in class think about how they would react if they were told to move out west. It was a big change for people who lived in the city to move to the country. This could be a springboard to help children put themselves in the shoes of people from the time of the expansion.  

Abe Lincoln's Dream

By Lane Smith

This story is a quite charming one about a girl who encounters the ghost of Abe Lincoln while on a school tour of the White House. Abe is very troubled because he does not know the state of things in our country and how everything worked out since 1865. He laments to the girl that he has a nightmare every night about a ship sailing rapidly for some shore, but he doesn't know where the ship is headed. He has this dream every night and continues to worry for our nation. The girl forces him to leave the "Executive Mansion" explaining that it is now called the White House and shows him the state of things. She eases his mind by showing him that the states are united and have equal rights. She assures him that we're working on man fighting with his fellow man and brings him to the moon. Overall he seems satisfied. When Quincy goes to sleep that night she has a dream of a tall man on a boat moving toward the rising sun. 

The book goes on to tell us that night night before his assassination Abe Lincoln had the same dream he told the girl about in the story. He is noted to have had that dream before any momentous event. This story has a very uplifting feeling because of all the positive things Quincy was able to show President Lincoln about what great strides we've taken since then. It could be used in any class learning about the civil war. It would be great to raise the question to students, "What would President Lincoln say if he could see our country now?" They could brainstorm a little and then read this story to see some more possibilities. 

The Boy who was Rasied by Librarians

By Carla Morris
Illustrated by Brad Sneed

This story follows Melvin through his years in elementary and high school as he spent every day after school in the library. He comes in every day with something new he wants to learn about and the librarians, Marge, Betty and Leeola just can't help getting excited about everything and learning with him. They watch him go through the years and support and prepare him for every spelling bee, science fair, and trivia show he wants to participate in.

This book is a great book for introducing all that the library has to offer for students. It shows how they have nonfiction and fiction texts and shows the librarians using the library catalog to find books. It could help students see just how much there is to learn, if they want to try.

The Mountain that Loved a Bird

By Alice McLerran
Illustrations by Eric Carle

This is a heartwarming story of a lonely mountain who has only ever felt the touch of the rain and the snow. No animals lived near him, and he was very surprised when one day a bird stopped to rest on top of him. Very confused and amazed, he asked the creature her name. She replied that her name was Joy and that she soon had to leave to where she could nest. The mountain was devastated to see her go, and asked that she stay. Joy promised the mountain that she would return the following spring, and every spring after that to visit, and that when she could no longer visit her daughter would continue her visits. Years went by and the mountain grew sadder knowing that every visit ended with a goodbye. The birds who came began bringing seeds as the mountain started to weep from his sadness. Within years, trees, grass and flowers began to grow. The changes in the mountain elicit some changes in his friend Joy as well.

This story is a remarkable story of friendship and determination. It would work well as a read aloud to show these characteristics to students. The illustrations are also beautiful and would provide some great images for children to view.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

By Obert Skye

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo is the first book in a five part book series following Leven Thumps's adventures to save the world of Foo. Leven is an orphan taken in by his mother's half sister when his father dies in a car accident days before his birth and his mother dies in childbirth. His mother's half sister is very reluctant to take him and with her sour attitude causes his upbringing to be less than adequate. When Leven is 14 he is told by a sycophant that he is the only decedent of the maker of the gateway between reality and Foo, the land that allows people on earth to dream, and that he is the only one that can stop an evil ruler from bridging the gap and ending dreams. The location of the gateway is a secret only known to few and with the help of his sycophant Clover, and a girl named Winter, Leven must find the one who knows the way, and make it to the gateway before it is too late.

This book was a very enjoyable book to read. I think this series would be great for boys or girls who have an interest in fantasy novels. This book explores the "impossible" and brings it to life in the form of a self-doubting hero that learns his value. I could see this as a great tool in book clubs at fourth or fifth grade level.

The Sea Serpent and Me

By Dashka Slater
Illustrated by Catia Chien

The book, "The Sea Serpent and Me," is a beautiful story of friendship between a girl and a sea serpent who happens to find himself in her bathtub one night. They become friends and he quickly grows larger and larger until he is much too big to live in her bathtub anymore. When it comes time for him to go back to the ocean, he is sad to leave his friend on land, and she is sad to sea him go.

The illlustrations in this book make the text come alive. The text has so many rich adjectives and similes that are brought out in the illustrations making them easy to visualize without any trouble. This book can be used in the elementary school setting to show how friendship can come from unlikely places.

Courage

By Bernard Waber

This book is different than a lot of picture books because it doesn't have a definitive story line. Each page and each sentence starts with "Courage is..". The rest of the sentence ranges from "riding your bicycle for the first time without training wheels" to "being the first to make up after an argument." My personal favorites involved "holing on to your dream" and "what we give to each other." This book shows children in various situations that are sometimes hard to deal with. For instance, being the new kid on the block, or eating vegetables without making a face. They range in difficulty but the book has an overall encouraging tone.

This is a great book for elementary school students because it personifies what it's like to try something unfamiliar that could be somewhat scary. When going to school for the first time, students are so brave because they are trying new things. They are becoming courageous every day. It's important in the elementary school classroom that we acknowledge the little victories, as well as the big ones.

The Library

By Sarah Stewart

Before the story even beings in this book, you see a few pictures of our main character Elizabeth Brown reading in various situations. It gave me a feeling that she, like myself, was almost never found without a book. The story is told with a rhyme and a rhythm that seems to be typical of Sarah Stewart. And what isn't found in the text is shown beautifully in the illustrations by David Small. For example, when Elizabeth Brown goes off to school, we are told the amount of books she brings breaks the top bunk of her bed. We are also shown that the posters she chooses to display in her room are unlike those of what her peers would have. She displays pictures of Virginia Woolf and Tolstoy.

Elizabeth finds herself one day in a city she was unfamiliar with and decides to stay there. She buys a house and becomes a tutor. She lives her life with a book in hand at all times forgetting things like groceries and looking where she walks until one day she realizes that there is absolutely no room for her to have any more books. As the title suggests, she turns her home into a library to allow everyone else to enjoy everything she has ever loved.

I think this book would be fantastic in any aged elementary class. It demonstrates clearly how one can come to love reading and also, how important is is to share that love and enjoyment with other people. This book can be used to teach children about libraries and also about sharing books with their friends.