[.ca] Big Box (ISBN 0786804165)

From Amazon.com:
If Pulitzer Prize-winning Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and her son Slade hope to reach children with their rhyming message of personal freedom and individuality, they may have missed the mark. But if even a few excessively controlling grownups learn to "let children be children," this big, colorful picture book might serve its purpose after all. Patty, Mickey, and Liza Sue live in a big brown box (locked from the inside) with all the amenities a modern child dreams of: TV, Barbie, pizza, Spice Girls T-shirts, beanbag chairs, and Pepsi. All this, but no liberty. They've been placed in this box because the adults in their lives believe "those kids can't handle their freedom." They have too much fun in school, sing when they should be studying, feed honey to the bees, and play handball where they shouldn't. Parents, neighbors, and teachers are uncomfortable with these irrepressible children, and hope to control them with strict boundaries. Meanwhile, the younger-yet-wiser children just want the freedom to become themselves: "Even sparrows scream/ And rabbits hop/ And beavers chew trees when they need 'em./ I don't mean to be rude: I want to be nice,/ But I'd like to hang on to my freedom." Giselle Potter's lovely, childlike paintings create an atmosphere of naïve bewilderment, as the plaintive children wail, over and over, "If freedom is handled just your way/ Then it's not my freedom or free." Morrison's first foray into children's literature is a puzzling, thickly ironic book that asks more questions than it answers. Even as a celebration of the unfettered exuberance of children in the face of societal oppression, a lighter touch would have done wonders. (Click to see a sample spread. Text copyright 1999 by Toni Morrison. Illustrations copyright 1999 by Giselle Potter. With permission of Jump at the Sun, Hyperion Books for Children.) --Emilie Coulter

plastic toys & dolls with names:
Feeling twinges of regret at my own childhood, this story resonated with me on a deep emotional level. There is a tendency in today's society to replace experience with material objects, and for parents to protect their children by sheltering them from the world as opposed to guiding them through life experiences. Unlike other reviewers, I do not find the children in this story to be victims of emotional or behavioral disorders, but rather, alive with all the creativity and awareness that a child new to the world finds innate. The adults, unable to reconcile the self expression of each child finds it necessary to lock the child in "a box"-- a metaphor for over-protective adults encouraging conformity as opposed to creative thinking-- and further drives the point home by medicating the child with commercialism and imitations of real experience: plastic toys, televisions, dolls that have "already been named", Spice Girl tee shirts, pictures of the sky and small boxes of actual dirt. This book does hold a strong message for adults, but I think that children who read this book should not be underestimated. Discussion about the themes could encourage children to think more about their role in society as creative thinkers. Such as: What does it mean that the children receive dolls that are already named? Ask the child, "Do like naming your own dolls? What do you think about getting a toy that already has a name?" Questions along these lines explore ideas about self-expression and ingenuity, and hopefully looking at these parts of the story will allow most to get past their knee-jerk reaction that the book encourages rebellion against adults and instigates fear or disobedience in children.

not appropriate for kids:
I am a teacher, when I read the review about this book, I thought I would love it as I love Toni Morrison. I found this book to be too scary for children. It talks about children who were put in a box because they couldn't handle their freedom. I don't like the moral behind it either. The picture are lovely though!

Thinking Outside The Box?:
Patty, Mickey and Liza Sue all must live in a big brown box with doors that open only one way because they "can't handle their freedom." Patty's infraction is that she went four times to the toilet and talked in class; Mickey hollered in the hallway of his apartment; and Liza Sue, who lives in the country, let the chickens keep their eggs. These three kids do good things, however. They fold their socks, hang up their clothes, do fractions and give up peanut brittle, for example. Written by Toni Morrison and her brother Slade and lushly illustrated by Giselle Potter, this little book sends the message that parents should let their children be given a chance to handle their freedom. What a wonderful lesson for parents to learn!

Great message but too confusing for most kids:
I go to Harwich Junior Thheatre for classes. Were doing an adaption of it to perform in the park. I play Mickey. This is a great book but I diidn't understand it's moral at first. But rating it as a book for all ages. i give it 5 stars.

A different approach to discussing freedom:
This is a wonderful story for both children and adults. It tells of three children that get into trouble in the adult world and are placed in a big brown box. The children are simply displaying typical childish actions, yet are misunderstood by their parents. Very authentic for children to understand. I have shared this book in my fourth grade classroom for the past three years. Each time I share it the students seem to understand the message and what it means to them in their own way. Although some think that this story is inappropriate for children I feel that it is wonderful for all ages. Don't underestimate what children can understand and take away from good literature. This can be a great piece of literature to use to discuss the idea of freedom with children.