The Freedom Riddle

by Angela Shelf Medearis, John Ward (Illustrator)

It's Christmas on Master Brown's plantation and, like Christmas everywhere, that means it's time for gift giving. There are no ordinary gifts on the plantation, though. Here, there is a special tradition: when two people see each other, the first to say "Christmas gift" receives a special present.
Jim, a slave, seizes the opportunity to ask Master Brown for a gift - the gift of his freedom. There's just one catch - first Jim has to come up with a riddle that the master cannot answer. Through spring, summer, and fall, Jim struggles to come up with the perfect riddle. By Christmas, he's ready with the riddle that will win his right to be free forever.
Based on a true story first told to writer William Faulkner, The Freedom Riddle makes an important statement about freedom and history that will resonate with readers of all ages. A perfect book for Black History month that will be enjoyed again at Christmas.

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Wilhelmina Jenkins]

I loved reading this to my grandson's second grade class today. Based on a true story from slavery times, Jim outthinks the slave master and comes up with a riddle that allows him to obtain his freedom. Loaded with Christmas traditions practiced in slavery, many of which were new to me. Beautifully illustrated. The children loved trying to guess the answers to Jim's riddle.

[Abigail]

Based upon the short story A Riddle for Freedom - told to author William J. Faulkner by a farmhand who worked for his mother, and contained in the collection The Days When the Animals Talked: Black American Folktales and How They Came to Be - this picture-book follows the story of Jim, an enslaved man who uses the Christmas traditions on Master Brown's plantation to win his freedom. Knowing that his owner cannot resist a riddle, Jim proposes that, if he can ask a riddle his master cannot answer, he be liberated.

I enjoyed this story of a slave who uses his wits to win his freedom, particularly since - according to Medearis' brief foreword - it is based upon an actual incident in 1850s Virginia. The harsh realities of slavery are presented realistically - Jim's separation, as a young boy, from his family, the poverty of the slave quarters - but not in such a way that they will overwhelm the young readers who are the target audience. I did find Jim's riddle a little "un-riddlish," but that's a small quibble. All in all, an excellent picture-book presentation of the days of slavery, and the human desire for freedom - I thank my friend Wilhelmina for pointing it out to me!

[Chelsea Kimmey]

Found this text kind of unrealistic historically but it was a good story for children to understand the hardship that slaves went through during that time period

[Olivia]

It's an interesting story, but I feel the author dragged it out longer than she needed to.

[Elizabeth]

There's a lot of text for a picture book, so aimed at older readers.

It also includes a lot of description about what Christmas celebrations were like for slaves on this particular plantation.

Nicely illustrated.

Based on a story told to William Faulkner by a former slave from this very plantation.