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?
38 Items found Print
Active Filters: Famous Women, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Trade Paperback
Amelia Earhart
DK Biography
by Tanya Lee Stone
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia to Zora
1st edition from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$7.95
Anne Frank: Young Diarist
Childhood of World Figures
by Ruth Ashby
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Captive Princess
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
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)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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
Hallelujah Lass
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
Helen Keller
DK Readers Level 3
by Leslie Garrett
from DK Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99
Joan of Arc
Sterling Point Books
by Jay Williams
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joan of Arc
DK Biographies
by Kathleen Kudlinski
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Juliette Low, Girl Scout Founder
by Helen Boyd Higgins
from Patria Press, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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
Listening to Crickets
by Candice F. Ransom
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (4 in stock)
Margaret Bourke-White
by Montrew Dunham
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
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)
Meet Maya Angelou
by Valerie Spain
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Mysterious Journey
by Martha Wickham
from Soundprints
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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
Picture Book of Sojourner Truth
by David A. Adler
Ill from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Remember the Ladies
by Cheryl Harness
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Remember the Ladies
Creative Minds Biographies
by Jeri Chase Ferris, Illustrated by Ellen Beier
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Road to Seneca Falls
Creative Minds Biography
by Gwenyth Swain
from Lerner Publishing Group
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Sacajawea
by Joseph Bruchac
from Graphia
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Shadow of His Hand
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
Tinker's Daughter
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Uncommon Traveler
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Voice of Her Own
by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Paul Lee
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
What Made Them Great: Anne Frank
What Made Them Great
by Laura Tyler, Illustrated by Gianna Renna
from Silver Burdett Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Who Is Sonia Sotomayor?
Who Was?...Series
by Megan Stine, illustrated by Dede Putra
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Anne Frank?
Who Was?...Series
by Ann Abramson & Nancy Harrison (Illustrator)
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Eleanor Roosevelt?
Who Was?...Series
by Gare Thompson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was Harriet Tubman?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was Helen Keller?
Who Was?...Series
by Gare Thompson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?
by Patricia Brennan Demuth
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$6.99
Who Was Sacagawea?
Who Was?...Series
by Judith Bloom Fradin, Dennis Brindell Fradin
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)