Biography by Series

One of the great benefits of a biography series is that readers can become accustomed to a reading level that works for them, and learn about a variety of people without worrying about difficulty or writing style. Some of our favorite biography series are the work of many authors, but even then there's usually a series editor to ensure consistency.

This sameness can also be a pitfall: readers (especially kids) can just get in a rut of breezing through the volumes without growing much or learning a whole lot. If you have kids who read a lot, however, this is potentially the case no matter what they're reading, and at least with a series you can have a pretty good idea where the individual authors will be coming from, whether you're familiar with them or not.

Most of the series we offer are written from a Christian perspective. While many might assume this makes them okay across the board, we do offer a caution: not all of these series offer the same level of discernment. For instance, while the Sowers Biographies are generally very good (and very popular), the editors chose to include a biography about Johnny Appleseed, a known heretic of the Swedenborgian variety.

For the most part, however, we can get behind the series we offer. Our favorite right now is probably the Christian Encounters series, which offers short but incisive biographies of great Christians who may not get as much attention as they should (like St. Patrick, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and William F. Buckley).

We do encourage you to mix things up now and then. It's easy to get in a rut, and it's easy to get familiar with an author or group of authors, and then to simply accept everything they say as Gospel truth. Reading across a spectrum of biographies will fill in gaps that may exist in your understanding, and offer different interpretations of people and events.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes 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?
111 Items found Print
Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover
Adventurous Life of Winston Churchill
by Geoffrey Bocca
from Julian Messner
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Andrew Carnegie
from Kingston House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Antonin Dvorak
Julian Messner Shelf of Biographies
by Clair Lee Purdy, illustrated by Edgard Cirlin
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Auguste and Jacques Piccard: Exploring the Sky and Sea
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Kingston House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias: Striving to Be Champion
by Helen Markley Miller, illustrated by Richard Mlodock
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Hawk, Young Sauk Warrior
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Cathrine S. Cleven
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces
by Shannon Garst, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
from Julian Messner
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Commander of the Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault
by Joe Archibald
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Conscience of a King
by Margaret Stanley-Wrench, illustrated by Kenneth Ody
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$25.46
Dr. George Washington Carver, Scientist
by Shirley Graham & George D. Lipscomb
Seventeenth Printing from Julian Messner
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Ernest Hemingway: Remaking Modern Fiction
by Paul Rink, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Fearless Adventurer
by Arthur Orrmont
from Julian Messner
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
First Lady of the Theatre: Sarah Siddons
by Molly Costain Haycraft
from Kingston House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Frank Lloyd Wright: Living Architecture
by Gorham Munson, illustrated by Dan Siculan
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Galileo
by Mitch Stokes
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
Galileo: First Observer of Marvelous Things
by Elma Ehrlich Levinger
from Kingston House
for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
George Patton
by Alden Hatch
1965, Ninth Printing from Julian Messner
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
He Heard America Sing
by Clair Lee Purdy
from Julian Messner
for 4-6
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indestructible Commodore Matthew Perry
by Arthur Orrmont
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
James Fenimore Cooper
by Isabel Proudfit
from Julian Messner
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife
by Janet Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
John Marshall: Fighting for Justice
by Fred Cook
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
King of Song
by Ruth & Paul Hume, illustrated by Irene Murray
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Lee de Forest: Advancing the Electronic Age
by Donald Wollheim, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Beethoven
by Gino Pugnetti
from Curtis Publishing Co.
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Chopin
by Adelaide Murgia
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Dante
by Maria Luisa Rizzatti
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Life & Times of Elizabeth I
by Massimo Rossaro
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Leonardo
by Liana Bortolon
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Life & Times of Louis XIV
by Alfredo Panicucci
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of Michelangelo
by Maria Luisa Rizzatti
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Life & Times of Napoleon
by Mario Rivoire
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Life & Times of Peter the Great
by Giancarlo Buzzi
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Times of St. Francis
by Agostino Ghilardi
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire
from Curtis Publishing Co.
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire, translated by C.J. Richards
from Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lion of Poland
by Ruth & Paul Hume, illustrated by Lili Réthi
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Louis Braille
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
12th Printing from Julian Messner
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Louis Pasteur
by Laura N. Wood
7th 1959 printing from Julian Messner
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Man Who Wouldn't Give Up: Henry Clay
by Katherine E. Wilkie
from Julian Messner
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Mathew Brady: Photographing History
by Manual Komroff, with photographs by Mathew Brady
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Monuments to Glory
by Daniel M. Madden, illustrated by Lili Réthi
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Oliver Cromwell
by I. E. Levine
from Julian Messner
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
P. T. Barnum: Entertaining the World
by Fred J. Cook, illustrated by Dan Siculan
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great of Russia
from D. M. Mac Lellon Book Company
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Queen Elizabeth I: Forging an Empire
by Elizabeth Linington, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Rivals in Parliament
by Iris Noble
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Roald Amundsen: A Saga of the Polar Seas
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
from Kingston House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Robert Frost: Making Poems for America
by Gorham Munson, illustrated by Dan Siculan
from Encyclopedia Britannica
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Tiger
by Frank Kolars, illustrated by Craig Pineo
from Hawthorn Books, Inc.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Sitting Bull: Champion of his People
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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 Amelia Earhart
Signature Books #33
by Adele de Leeuw, illustrated by Harry Beckhoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Andrew Jackson
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #13
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by David Hendrickson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Annie Oakley
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #37
by Edmund Collier, illustrated by Leon Gregori
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Beethoven
Signature Books #41
by Helen L. Kaufmann, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Benjamin Franklin
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #5
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Buffalo Bill
Signature Books #1
by Edmund Collier, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Christopher Columbus
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #2
by Nina Brown Baker, illustrated by David Hendrickson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Clara Barton
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #25
by Olive Price, illustrated by Ruth Ives
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Crazy Horse
Signature Books #28
by Enid Lamonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by William Reusswig
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Dan Beard
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #43
by Robert N. Webb, illustrated by Everett Raymond Kinstler
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Daniel Boone
Signature Books #15
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Warren Baumgartner
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Davy Crockett
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #3
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by C. B. Falls
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-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 Edith Cavell
Signature Books #47
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Gerald McCann
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Eleanor Roosevelt
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #48
by Lorena A. Hickok, illustrated by William Barss
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Florence Nightingale
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #10
by Margaret Leighton, illustrated by Corinne B. Dillon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #39
by Lorena A. Hickok, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of General Custer
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #26
by Margaret Leighton, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of George Washington
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #12
by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of George Washington Carver
Signature Books #17
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Harper Johnson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Geronimo
Signature Books #44
by Jim Kjelgaard, illustrated by Charles Banks Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Good Queen Bess
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #18
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Haydn
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #49
by Helen L. Kaufmann, illustrated by John Leone
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biographies for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Helen Keller
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #45
by Lorena A. Hickok, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Jacqueline Kennedy
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #51
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Michael Lowenbein
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Joan of Arc
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #19
by Jeannette C. Nolan, illustrated by Pranas Lapé
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of John J. Audubon
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #27
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Federico (Fred) Castellon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of John Paul Jones
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #20
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Kit Carson
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #16
by Edmund Collier, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Lafayette
Signature Books #7
by Hazel Wilson, illustrated by Edy Legrand
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biograhy for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Leif Ericson
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #30
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Pranas Lapé
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Louis Pasteur
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #11
by Alida Sims Malkus, illustrated by Jo Spier
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
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 Mad Anthony Wayne
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #24
by Hazel Wilson, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Madame Curie
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #46
by Alice Thorne, illustrated by Federico Castellon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Marco Polo
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #22
by Olive Price, illustrated by Frederico Castellon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Mark Twain
Signature Books #23
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Martha Washington
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #32
by Jeannette C. Nolan, illustrated by Corinne B. Dillon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Mozart
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #34
by Helen L. Kaufmann, illustrated by Eric M. Simon
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Pocahontas
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #21
by Shirley Graham, illustrated by Mario Cooper
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of President Kennedy
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #50
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Carl Cassler
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Robert E. Lee
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #8
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by John Alan Maxwell
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Robert Louis Stevenson
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #42
by Joan Howard, illustrated by Jo Polseno
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th 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)
12