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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56 Items found Print
Active Filters: Scientists, Naturalists & Inventors, 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Hardcover
Aleck Bell
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Mable Cleland Widdemer
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Franklin Watts
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark #28
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Benjamin Franklin
by R. Conrad Stein
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Reader's Edition)
by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species
by Walter Karp
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Curies and Radium
Immortals of Science
by Elizabeth Rubin
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever
Landmark #78
by Ralph Nading Hill
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Dr. William Harvey and the Discovery of Circulation
by William C. Harrison
from Macmillan
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Exploring with the Bartrams
by Ann and Myron Sutton
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
From the Eagle's Wing
by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Galileo and the Magic Numbers
by Sidney Rosen, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Genius
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 5th-9th grade
2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
George Pullman: Young Sleeping Car Builder
by Elisabeth P. Myers, Illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
George Washington Carver
Landmark #38
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Hero Schliemann
by Laura Amy Schlitz
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Inventing the Future
by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
James Clerk Maxwell and Electromagnetism
Immortals of Science
by Charles Paul May
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John Audubon, Boy Naturalist
by Miriam E. Mason
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John James Audubon
Landmark #48
by John & Margaret Kieran, illustrated by Christine Price
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Joseph Priestley
Immortals of Science / First Biography
by Rebecca B. Marcus
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Josiah W. Gibbs
Immortals of Science
by Benedict A. Leerburger, Jr.
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Jay Williams
from Horizon Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Louis Braille
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
12th Printing from Julian Messner
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Louis Pasteur
by John Mann
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Man of the Monitor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Marconi: Pioneer of Radio
by Douglas Coe
10th Printing from Julian Messner
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Men of Science and Invention
by Michael Blow
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mission Control, This Is Apollo
by Andrew Chaikin, Victoria Kohl
from Viking Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
Mr. Bell Invents the Telephone
Landmark #30
by Katherine B. Shippen
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Nansen
by Anna Gertrude Hall, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff
from Viking Press
for 6th-10th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Prophet With Honor
by William Henry Welch
from Julian Messner
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Rachel Carson
by Melissa Stewart
from Ferguson Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Samuel Morse, Inquisitive Boy
by Dorothea J. Snow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Story of Benjamin Franklin
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #5
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
1st edition from Aladdin Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Story of George Washington Carver
Signature Books #17
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Harper Johnson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of John J. Audubon
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #27
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Federico (Fred) Castellon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Louis Pasteur
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #11
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Jo Spier
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Madame Curie
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #46
by Alice Thorne, illustrated by Federico Castellon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Thomas Alva Edison
Landmark #110
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Story of Thomas Alva Edison
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #4
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Harvé Stein
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Talking Wire: The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
by O. J. Stevenson
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Thaddeus Lowe: America's One-Man Air Corps
by Mary Hoehling
from Kingston House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Harriot
by Ralph Staiger
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
To Fly
by Wendie C. Old, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
2003 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$17.99
Trail Blazer of the Seas
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Universe of Galileo and Newton
from Horizon Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
We Were There on the Nautilus
We Were There #35
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Frank Vaughn
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There with Charles Darwin on H.M.S. Beagle
We Were There #30
by Philip Eisenberg, illustrated by Herman B. Vestal
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Women in Science
by Rachel Ignotofsky
from Ten Speed Press
for 4th-12th grade
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Wright Brothers
Landmark #10
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)