Biographies

"Did they tell you stories about the saints of old,
stories about their faith?
Stories like that make a boy grow bold,
stories like that make a man walk straight..."

Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me, Man Like You

Stories about people have a way of affecting us in ways other stories can't. The Bible is primarily stories about people, and it is through these multiple biographies that we understand human nature, the history of redemption, and even to a great extent God Himself. The purpose behind any other biography is largely the same—to help us understand what it means to be human from the examples (sometimes even the bad examples) of those who have preceded us.

The biographies we have chosen for this section represent those of great leaders in history, social and military heroes, and Christian saints past and present who struggled to conform their lives to Christ's perfect example. We have avoided for the most part biographies of history's villains and chronic immoralists, not because they aren't interesting but because they don't represent lives worthy of imitation. We've also decided not to focus on athletes, actors, and celebrities, unless they've made important contributions outside their fields. That's not to say everyone found here was above reproach or even a Christian, but they all demonstrated real human virtues for which they are remembered.

Biographies are also useful for better understanding of a given historical period. While history books can provide good overviews of a period or events, the intimate detail of a good biography can better illustrate a time period and what it was like to be alive then. This also serves to demonstrate the universality of human nature, that people will behave basically the same during any given period and in any given place. Sometimes we get the impression that people of the past, especially people like missionaries and ministers, were somehow more pious than we are—the personal view offered by a good biography dispels this myth and offers encouragement that not even the best men and women are any closer to perfection than we are.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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38 Items found Print
Active Filters: Scientists, Naturalists & Inventors, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Trade Paperback
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
by Jamie Aramini
Fir from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Always Inventing
by Tom L. Matthews
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
DK Biography: Marie Curie
by Vicki Cobb
from DK Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Five Notable Inventors
by Wade Hudson
from Cartwheel Books
in Scholastic / Hello Reader! (Location: EAR-SCH)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver
by Matt Doeden
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard
by Laura Driscoll
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Giants of Science: Isaac Newton
by Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by Boris Kulikov
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Henry Ford
by Dina El Nabli
from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion
by Andrea Gianopoulos
1st edition from Capstone Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.95 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99
Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Listening to Crickets
by Candice F. Ransom
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (4 in stock)
Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99 $3.50 (3 in stock)
Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Marie Curie
by Ibi Lepsckey
from Trumpet Club
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Marie Curie's Search for Radium
by Beverley Birch
from Barron's
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Michelangelo
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes
by Beverly Birch
from Barron's
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99 $4.50 (6 in stock)
Samuel Morse and the Telegraph
by David Seidman; illustrated by Rod Whigham, Keith Williams, and Charles Barnett
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Snake Scientist
by Sy Montgomery
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
2000 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: SCI-REPT)
Starry Messenger
by Peter Sis
from Square Fish Publishing
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1997 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Story of Thomas A. Edison
by Frances M. Perry
from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Thomas Edison: The Great Inventor
DK Readers Level 4
by Caryn Jenner
from DK Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$3.99
We'll Race You, Henry
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
What Are You Figuring Now?
by Jeri Ferris, Illustrated by Amy Johnson
from First Avenue Editions
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
What Makes the Light Bright, Thomas Edison
by Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
Who Is Neil Armstrong?
by Roberta Edwards
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Albert Einstein?
Who Was?...Series
by Jess Braillier
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
Who Was Alexander Graham Bell?
Who Was?...Series
by Bonnie Bader
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99
Who Was Ben Franklin?
Who Was?...Series
by Dennis Brindell Fradin
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-7th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was Charles Darwin?
by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Nancy Harrison
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was George Washington Carver?
Who Was?...Series
by Jim Gigliotti, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?
Who Was?...Series
by Roberta Edwards
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Thomas Alva Edison?
Who Was?...Series
by Margaret Frith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Wildheart
from Yosemite Conservancy
for 2nd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99