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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51 Items found Print
Active Filters: Artists & Illustrators, 4th grade (Ages 9-10)
Andy Warhol
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Bill Peet
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 4th-8th grade
1990 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Botticelli
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Charlotte in Giverny
by Joan MacPhail Knight
Reprint from Chronicle Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Chasing Vermeer
Balliet Art Mystery Series
by Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist (Illustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
Mystery & Suspense for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Claude Monet
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Claude Monet
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Discovering Great Artists
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
2nd edition from Chicago Review Press
for Preschool-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$19.99
Discovering Great Artists (old)
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
from Bright Ring Publishing
for Preschool-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Edgar Degas
Artists Through the Ages
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
First Starry Night
by Joan Shaddox Isom
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Giotto
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Henri Matisse
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Jackson Pollock
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Jackson Pollock
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John Audubon
Young Patriots series
by Miriam E. Mason
from Patria Press, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Joni's Story
Today's Heroes
by Joni Eareckson Tada
from Zondervan
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.99
Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo Da Vinci
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
Revised from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer
by Robert Byrd
1st edition from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-5th grade
2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Lives of the Artists
by Kathleen Krull
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Magic Tree House #38 (Merlin Mission #10) - Fact Tracker
companion to Merlin Mission #10 - Monday with a Mad Genius
by Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Magic Tree House (Location: SER-MTH)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mary Cassatt
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Matisse: Painter of the Essential
Art for Children
by Yolande Baillet
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Michelangelo
by Ernest Raboff
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Michelangelo
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biographies for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Michelangelo
Masterpieces: Artists and Their Works
by Shelley Swanson Sateren
from Capstone Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell's America
by Christopher Finch, Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Reader's Digest
for 3rd-Adult
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush
by Beverly Gherman
from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Pablo Picasso
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
Pablo Picasso
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Paul Gauguin
Artists Through the Ages
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pierre-August Renoir
by Ernest Raboff
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings That Smile
by True Kelley
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Raphael
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Rembrandt
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
Revised from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Roy Lichtenstein
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Self-Portrait: Trina Schart Hyman
from Harper & Row
for 4th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
This is M. Sasek
by Olga Cerna, Pavel Ryska, and Martin Salisbury
from Universe Publishing
for 1st-6th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
Usborne Book of Famous Artists
from Usborne
for 2nd-7th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Vincent Van Gogh
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Vincent Van Gogh
by Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan
from Delacorte Press
for 3rd-6th grade
2002 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Vincent Van Gogh
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
Revised from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
Vincent Van Gogh
Art for Young People
by Peter Harrison
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4th-7th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?
Who Was?...Series
by Roberta Edwards
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Winslow Homer
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)