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.
Did you find this review helpful?
112 Items found Print
Active Filters: 19th Century America, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Civil War
by Susan Dye Lee, illustrated by Ralph Canaday
from Children's Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
A Discovery Book
by Anne Colver
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln & His Family - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
$9.99
Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$3.95
Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ellen Wilson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
from Macrae-Smith Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Buffalo Bill: Frontier Daredevil
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Calamity Jane
by Doris Faber
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
by Nancy Whitelaw
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Courage to Run
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$8.99
Crazy Horse: The Story of an American Indian
by John R. Milton
Second Printing 1975 from Dillon Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Aileen Wells Parks
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
by Elaine Raphael & Don Bolognese
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Electrical Wizard
by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Frederick Douglass: The Right to Dignity
from Emerald Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Freedom's Pen
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
New Edition from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99
Frontiersman
by Marian T. Place
First Ediition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
George Rogers Clark: War in the West
Events of the Revolution
by Susan and John Lee, illustrated by Richard Wahl
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Gettysburg Address in Translation
by Kay M., Olson
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.95
Henry Ford
by Dina El Nabli
from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Her Story, Her Words
by Frances E. Ruffin
from Rosen Central
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
In Their Own Words: Abraham Lincoln
In Their Own Words
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Jane Addams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Jedediah Smith
by Sharlene and Ted Nelson
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Jefferson Davis
by George Ulrich, John Lee, Susan Lee
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln
An All Aboard Reading Reader Level 4
by Jean Fritz
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-3rd grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln
An All Aboard Reading Reader Level 4
by Jean Fritz
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$4.99
Kate Douglas Wiggin
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dharathula H. Millender
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
by Peter & Connie Roop
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Kit Carson
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Listen for the Whippoorwill
Trailblazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
Listen for the Whippoorwill
Trailblazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Little Annie Oakley and Other Rugged People
by Stewart H. Holbrook
First Ediition from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Lotta Crabtree
by Lois V. Harris
from Pelican Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
Mark Twain: Young Writer
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Mariam E. Mason
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Meet Abraham Lincoln
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Barbara Cary
from Random House
Biography for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Meet Thomas Jefferson
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Marvin Barrett
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
O Captain, My Captain
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Sterling Hundley
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$19.99
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picture Book of Frederick Douglass
by David A. Adler
Reprint from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Sacagawea
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Dan Brown
from Holiday House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Pioneering on the Plains
Frontiers of America
by Edith McCall, illustrated by Carol Rogers
from Children's Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Real Book About Abraham Lincoln
by Michael Gorham, illustrated by Elinore Blaisdell
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
Remarkable Rough-Riding Life of Theodore Roosevelt
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Road to Seneca Falls
Creative Minds Biography
by Gwenyth Swain
from Lerner Publishing Group
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Robert E. Lee: Young Confederate
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Helen Albee Monsell
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Robert Fulton
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Robert Patterson
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$5.00 (4 in stock)
Sacagawea: American Pathfinder
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Henderson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Sacajawea
by Joseph Bruchac
from Graphia
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Sam Houston: Boy Chieftain
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
So Tall Within
by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Stephen Foster
Lives and Times
by Peggy Pancella
from Heinemann Library
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans
by Edward Eggleston
from Yesterday's Classics
Narrative History for 1st-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$11.95
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans
by Edward Eggleston
2nd edition from Memoria Press
Narrative History for 1st-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$14.65
Story of Abraham Lincoln
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #9
by Nina Brown Baker, illustrated by Warren Baumgartner
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Signature Books #38
by Arthur J. Beckhard, illustrated by Charles H. Geer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Harriet Tubman
Dell Yearling Biography
by Kate McMullan
from Yearling
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Louisa May Alcott
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #35
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Flora Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Stephen Decatur
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #29
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Graham Kaye
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Stephen Foster
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #31
by Esther M. Douty, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of the Underground Railroad - Coloring Book
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Tad Lincoln
A Discovery Book
by LaVere Anderson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Take Command, Captain Farragut!
by Peter Roop, Connie Roop
1st edition
for 3rd-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Teddy Roosevelt: Young Rough Rider
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Edd Winfield Parks
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Unfading Beauty
by Tracy M. Leininger
from His Seasons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Voice of Her Own
by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Paul Lee
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
We the People: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
by Michael Burgan
from Compass Point Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Western Lawmen
by Frank Surge
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Western Outlaws
by Frank Surge
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
What Makes the Light Bright, Thomas Edison
by Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
12