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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58 Items found Print
Active Filters: Age of Exploration (1450-1700), 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Book About Christopher Columbus
by Ruth Belov Gross, Illustrated by Syd Hoff
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
by Edwin Erle Sparks, editor
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Captain Cook: Pacific Explorer
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (3 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Cook: Captain James Cook Charts the Pacific Ocean
by Jean Kinney Williams
from Compass Point Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Cruise of Mr. Christopher Columbus
A Really Truly Story
by Sadyebeth & Anson Lowitz
from Lerner Publishing Group
Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Discovery of the Americas
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.99
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
for 1st-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.99
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
by Barbara Schiller
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Golden Book History of the United States
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 1
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
He Went with Champlain
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Christopher Columbus
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Drake
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with John Paul Jones
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Magellan
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Marco Polo
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
He Went with Vasco da Gama
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Tamara Green
from World Almanac Library
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
by Carol Greene
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Meet the Men who Sailed the Seas
by John Dyment, Illustrated by Victor Mays
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Picture Book of Christopher Columbus
by David A. Adler
from Trumpet Club
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picture History of Great Explorers
by Gillian Clements
from Frances Lincoln
for 3rd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Ponce de Leon
by Trish Kline
from Rourke Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Henry the Navigator
by Leonard Everett Fisher
1st edition from Atheneum
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Real Book About Explorers
by Irvin Block, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Remarkable Rough-Riding Life of Theodore Roosevelt
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Ships, Sailors and the Sea
Usborne Beginner's Knowledge
by Caroline Young, J. Miles
from Usborne
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Stories of America: Volume 1
by Charles Morris, Sonya Shafer
from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 1st-6th grade
in Modern History (Location: HISW-MOD)
Story of Sir Walter Raleigh
The Children's Heroes Series
by Margaret Duncan Kelly
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
True Story of Sir Francis Drake
by Will Holwood
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?
by Jean Fritz
from Putnam Juvenile
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.99
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?
by Jean Fritz
childrens book from Putnam Juvenile
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Who in the World was the Forgotten Explorer?
by Lorene Lambert & Jed Mickle
from Well-Trained Mind Press
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.50
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
Who Was?...Series
by Barbara Bader
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
Who Was?...Series
by Barbara Bader, illustrated by Nancy Harrison
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Daniel Boone?
Who Was?...Series
by Sydelle Kramer
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
World Explorer: Henry Morton Stanley
World Explorer
by Charles P. Graves
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
World Explorer: James Cook
by Adele Deleeuw
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
World Explorer: John Smith
World Explorer
by Charles P. Graves, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)