Born on Christmas was how Christmas John got his name. He was born a slave, a Kentucky slave. Granny Judith told Christmas John her story of how she was captured in Africa. It was a red cloth that served as bait. By the time she had gotten the cloth, the boat had gotten her. Off to America. Off to slavery. Granny Judith dyed thread of many colors on that plantation. She had heard of a way to escape to the north. Christmas John was going to paddle the boat to help people escape to Ohio. All she wanted to know was what color were they wearing. Those colors became woven together on Granny Judith's freedom quilt, with just 2 more patches to be filled. Christmas John and Granny Judith finally made the crossing to freedom, leaving behind the color of slavery. ( )

Night Boat to Freedom is about a young boy, Christmas John, who was born into slavery. He was taken care of by a women he called Granny Judith, who was taken as a young girl from her home in Africa. Through Granny Judith's persuasion, every night Christmas John would row some of the slaves on his plantation across the river to freedom in Ohio. He did this for over a year and finally, him and Granny Judith both made it across the river to freedom as well. For these reasons, to me, the moral of the story is perseverance. Christmas John trusted Granny Judith and, through strong will, he succeeded at his task. ( )

Captivating book about Christmas John who was born on Christmas day.
He lived with his grandmother. Plantation is on county line between Kentucky and Ohio. He would row people by night from slavery to freedom.
His grandma made a freedom quilt. She made her own cloth for this quilt.
She would determine color of patches for her quilt by colors of freed slaves transported by Christmas John. ( )

This is such a strong story about escaping slavery. You are on edge the whole time as Christmas John tries to help slave after slave escape across the river to freedom. It is as if you are scared for him that he might just get caught one time. It is one of those books that keeps you wanting more. You want to change the page quickly to find out what is going to happen next. ( )

This was a very heart touching book. I think it would be more appropriate for students in about fourth of fifth grade becuase the young students may not quite yet understand the idea of slavery. I thouhgt it was great though because it shows students how you have to be strong and help other out. ( )

A story about a young boy who has to help people to freedom at night on a boat. His grandmother believes in him. Every time he brings somebody over he ask them what color they have on so his grandmother can put on this quilt she was making. It was very touching and I felt like I was in his shoes. I am happy he went back for his grandmother at the end of the book. ( )

A story about a young boy, his grandmother and the quilt she's making. She instructs her grandson to help other slaves escape during the night. He complies and successfully sends many off to the north to freedom. The time comes when she wants him to be free and she wants him to go alone because she may slow him down. He comes back for his grandmother and they escape together. For every slave that went free she would add a square to her quilt. The colors she picks would be the color of the escapee's shirt. I loved the flashback element to the book of the grandmother's story of how she became a slave. The pictures are beautiful. Maybe appropriate for 2-5 grades. ( )

This books shows how effective children can be in any and all situations and that size don't matter. It also show has and underlining message when talking about the quilt the old woman made. Every color was a person who successfully made it to freedom. I would use this book during Black History Month. ( )

This book pretty much moved me to tears. It is told in first person by a young boy named Christmas John who finds himself playing an important role in the escape of slaves from the plantation where he lives with his grandmother. One by one he rows them across the waters to the banks of Ohio and freedom. With each person he saves his grandmother asks “what was the color of freedom tonight”, meaning what were the people wearing as she makes a quilt with every color represented. After everyone had escaped it was time for Christmas John to make the journey for himself, but he refuses to leave his grandmother behind. Together they make the dangerous trip through the woods, to his small boat, and across to freedom. When John asks his grandmother what color freedom was tonight she replies, holding up her completed quilt, that freedom was every color.
This is a beautiful book both in its words and illustrations. I would probably read this story to first or second graders. Although it is about the serious issue of slavery, because it is told through the eyes of a young boy, and has a very uplifting ending, I think it would make a good book to use in introducing the topic and discussing the bravory and love of Christmas John. ( )

I liked this book because it told of something that really happened during slavery. A little boy is rowing people to the other side of lake, to freedom. He know this is dangerous but his grandmother encourages him. She is sewing a blanket and each square is for a person that has been freed. John is about to leave but he refuses to leave with Grandma Judith. Together they cross and she is very joyful that he didn't leave her and that they made it safe. This book showed how courageous the little boy was to help all those people and how he did not want to leave his grandma behind. ( )

The book is about a boy called Christmas and his grandmother. They are both slaves living on a cotton plantation in Kentucky. Just over the river, is Ohio, a state in which slavery has already been abolished on that time. First, the boy helps other slaves to escape and by the end of the book he flees with his grandmother. As the book is not very long and explains with powerful pictures and few, but expressive sentences the anxiety of slaves. I would use that book when dealing with the topic slavery in school. This book is a good introduction for the, in my opinion topic escape of slaves. Then I would go on with freedom songs, the railroad etc. ( )

This book is about slaves who live on a plantation, they are originally from Africa. His grandmother was lured with beautiful red fabric to the boat that took her from her home. The grandmother tells the grandson that he still has the chance for freedom. ( )

Night Boat to Freedom is a story of a young man named Christmas. Chrismas is twelve and his grandmother request him to make a dangerous journey at night, this is dangerous becuase if the masters catch Christmas, there is no telling what could happen. Christmas is successful taking one person to freedom. His grandmother asks him to bring back the color the person was wearing to freedom. Christmas continues to take people across to freedom and each time he brings back the colorst the people were wearing his grandmother takes that same color and sews the cloth to a quilt, she has a dream that when there is two peices left to complete the quilt her and Christmas must take their journey to freedom. The time has come for their journey and Christmas' grandmother gives him a coat and sends him off to freedom, she does not want to hold him back. Christmas is heart broken and begans his journey, and then he notices the bloodhounds are not out! He returns for his grandmother and they make the journey together. After reaching their destination Christmas asks his grandmother what her color to freedom is, she replies with the colorful quilt wrapped around her and exclaims that all the colors are her color to freedom! ( )

This was a strong story that used relatable characters and a simple structure to tell a foundational story in America, the escape from slavery. This story is a good addition to that all too heartbreaking canon, with strong characters, a straightforward journey, danger, and the narrative element of Granny Judith's multicolored threads and quilt of freedom. A simple story about American slavery that elementary age children can understand and learn from.

Teachers can use this story when teaching students about slavery, American history, and African American history. Public librarians may want to introduce it for Black History Month, programming relating to American history, and outreach to schools.

Category/genre: Multicultural Literature (2 of 2)

Title: Night Boat to Freedom

Author: Margot Theis Raven

Illustrator: E.B.Lewis

Publisher: New York, Melanie Kroupa Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Date of Publication: 2006

Recommended age: 9-12

Rationale for age level: Children at this age are beginning to be able to appreciate symbolic language and make hypothetical judgements. They are starting to be sensitive to complexity in human feelings and relationships.

Annotation/review: The author used several facts from the Slave Narrative Collection, which was compiled in the 1930's using interviews with surviving former slaves, to write this story. It is a tale woven from 2 accounts and influenced by hundreds of others. Twelve year old Christmas John takes on a huge responsibility when his Granny Judith asks him to take a passenger across the Ohio River to freedom in the dark of night. He repeats this dangerous journey many times over a period of four years until the danger of getting caught becomes too great. Then he must make a decision that will change his and Granny Judith's life forever.

Illustrations: The illustrations create an atmosphere of tension, suspense, and fear. You can feel the boy's emotions in his expressions and the slant of darkness. The colors of Granny Judith's freedom quilt shine through the darkness of the illustrations like a beacon. The reds are brilliant in comparison to the dark hues presented throughout the rest of the images. Red, it turns out, has a very significant part in the story and the illustrations emphasize this point very well.

Suggested use: This would be a great book to use for the study of African American History. Since the Slave Narrative Collection is mentioned, I would try to make this collection available for use with students. It would be a wonderful writing activity to use the narratives like the author and choose 2 or more narratives to write our own historical fiction.

A grandmother asks her grandson to take a little girl north to freedom

Lesson 20 - The Causes of the Civil War