As a child, Granny Judith loved the color red—until strangers in her village used a red swatch of cloth to lure her away from home and into the shackles of slavery. She tells the story to young Christmas John before asking him to take the biggest risk of his life—row another slave across the river and into freedom. Although he’s terrified, John agrees. Soon he is making regular trips ferrying runaways across the river. Each time he returns, Granny Judith adds a square to the quilt she is making. Soon, she tells him, when the quilt is complete, it will be their turn for freedom. But after John’s harrowing escape from patrol dogs, she decides that they can wait no longer in a tense and soaring picture book from Margot Raven Theis featuring dramatic paintings by E. B. Lewis. The author was inspired to write this fictional story after reading slave narratives compiled by the Federal Writers Project during the Depression. (Ages 7–10)

When Granny Judith asks twelve-year-old Christmas John to row Molly, cook’s daughter, across the river from Kentucky to the Free State of Ohio, he’s terrified. Bravely, he begins the first of many journeys. Each time he returns, Granny Judith asks what color clothing his passenger wore, for she’s had a dream-vision and is making a quilt from squares of these “freedom colors.” When there are only two squares left, she tells him, “Dream says we got to get ourselves over the river, ’cause the danger’s gonna grow awful.”
 
This compelling story, powerfully and poignantly illustrated, is a memorable celebration of courage, hope, and unselfish love. Night Boat to Freedom is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.