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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43 Items found Print
Active Filters: Composers & Musicians, Trade Paperback
Adventures of Richard Wagner
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Arrow Pointing to Heaven
by James Bryan Smith
Revised from B&H Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Edward MacDowell and His Cabin in the Pines
by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 1st-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Famous Children: Haydn
by Ann Rachlin
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Children: Mozart
by Ann Rachlin
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends
by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland: Early Years
by Opal Wheeler, illustrated by Christine Price
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland: Later Years
by Opal Wheeler, illustrated by Christine Price
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
George Frideric Handel
Sowers Series
by Charles Ludwig
from Mott Media
for 6th-8th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99
George Handel
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Music Education & Reference (Location: ELE-MUSREF)
Great Christian Hymn Writers
by Jane Stuart Smith & Betty Carlson
from Crossway Books
for 7th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
Handel at the Court of Kings
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Horn for Louis
Stepping Stones
by Eric A. Kimmel
from Penguin Random House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Igor Stravinsky
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Johannes Brahms
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Joseph Haydn
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Leonard Bernstein
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Lives of the Musicians
by Kathleen Krull
from Sandpiper Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of the Musicians
by Kathleen Krull
from Sandpiper Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$8.99
Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
Ludwig van Beethoven
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Masters of Music: Beethoven and the Classical Age
by Andrea Bergamini
from Barron's
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Mozart the Wonder Boy
by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Musical Genius
by Barbara Allman
from Darby Creek Publishing
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.95
Paganini, Master of Strings
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Peter Tchaikovsky
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Peter Tchaikovsky
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers
by Mike Venezia
Revised from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
Peter Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Ballet
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
Robert Schumann and Mascot Ziff
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Sebastian Bach
by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
by Patrick Kavanaugh
2nd edition from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Stephen Foster and His Little Dog Tray
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 1st-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Story of Peter Tchaikovsky
by Opal Wheeler
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)
$13.95
Who Was Louis Armstrong?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99
Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99
Who Were the Beatles?
Who Was?...Series
by Geoff Edgers
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
World of the Trapp Family
by William Anderson
1st edition
for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
You Don't Cry Out Loud
by Lily Isaacs
from New Leaf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00
Young Brahms
by Sybil Deucher
from Zeezok Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Opal Wheeler Great Musicians Series (Location: BIO-OPAL)