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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75 Items found Print
Active Filters: 19th Century America, 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Trade Paperback
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
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
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
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
All That Glitters
Perspectives on History Series
by Phyllis Raybin Emert
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in California State (Location: HISA-19CGR)
Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
$9.50 (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
by Helen Cody Wetmore
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Clara Barton
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
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
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
Eagle and the Fort
by Dorothy Morrison
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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
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)
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
George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
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
Go Free or Die
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Harriet Tubman
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Harriet Tubman
by Frances T. Humphreville
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Helen Keller
by Polly Anne Graff, Stewart Graff
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
J. Pierpont Morgan
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith
by Frank Latham
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.50 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Jessie Benton Fremont
by Marguerite Higgins
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.95
John Flynn
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
for 4th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Lew Wallace, Boy Writer
by Martha E. Schaaf
from Patria Press, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99 $7.50 (5 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
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Meriwether Lewis
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Naya Nuki
by Kenneth Thomasma
from Baker Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Outrageous Women of the American Frontier
Outrageous Women
1st edition from Jossey-Bass
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Path to the Pacific
Sterling Point Books
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Path to the Pacific
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Quarto Knows
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)
Reconstruction: Binding the Wounds
Perspectives on History Series
by Cheryl Edwards, ed.
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$7.95
Robert E. Lee
Sowers Series
by Lee Roddy
from Mott Media
Biography for 6th-8th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
Sacajawea
by Joseph Bruchac
from Graphia
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Seneca Chief, Army General
Creative Minds Biographies
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Karen Ritz
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Separate Battle
Young Readers' History of the Civil War
by Ina Chang
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Separate Battle
Young Readers' History of the Civil War
by Ina Chang
from Scholastic Reference
for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Stonewall Jackson
Famous Figures of the Civil War Era
by Martha S. Hewson
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Storm Warriors
by Elisa Carbone
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (3 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
Second Edition from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Stout-Hearted Seven
Sterling Point
by Neta Lohnes Frazier
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Non-fiction/Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Tecumseh
by Russell Shorto
from Silver Burdett Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Theodore Roosevelt
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Thomas Edison for Kids
by Laurie Carlson
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
$19.99
True Adventures of Grizzly Adams
by Robert McClung
from Beech Tree Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Voice of Her Own
by Kathryn Lasky, Illustrated by Paul Lee
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Walking the Road to Freedom
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Abraham Lincoln?
Who Was?...Series
by Janet Pascal
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99 $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)
Who Was George Washington Carver?
Who Was?...Series
by Jim Gigliotti, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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 Mark Twain?
Who Was?...Series
by April Jones Prince, John O'Brien
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.99
Who Was Milton Hershey?
Who Was?...Series
by Yona Zeldis McDonough
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
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)
With Custer's Cavalry
by Katherine Gibson Fougera
from University of Nebraska
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-6th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.99