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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54 Items found Print
Active Filters: Age of Exploration (1450-1700), 6th grade (Ages 11-12), In-Stock Books & Materials
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Series
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Biographies
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (3 in stock)
Discovery of the Americas
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.99
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
for 1st-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.99
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
by Barbara Schiller
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
by Milton Meltzer
from Benchmark Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery of the World Ocean
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Francisco Coronado and the Exploration of the American Southwest
Explorers of New Worlds
by Hal Marcovitz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of the Inca
by Gina DeAngelis
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Great Explorers
by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
He Went with Champlain
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went with Christopher Columbus
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went with Drake
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went with John Paul Jones
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went with Magellan
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went with Marco Polo
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
He Went With series
by Louise Andrews Kent
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
He Went with Vasco da Gama
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
Henry Hudson
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Josepha Sherman
from Rosen Central
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hernando de Soto and the Exploration of Florida
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus
by Peter & Connie Roop
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.95
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Louise Chipley Slavicek
1st edition from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon and the Search for the Fountain of Youth
by Daniel E. Harmon
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Magellan
by Michael Burgan
from Compass Point Books
for 5th-12th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Manual Komroff, illustrated by Robin Jacques
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.04
Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo and the Medieval Explorers
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Marco Polo for Kids
by Janis Herbert
from Chicago Review Press
Biography/Activity Book for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$17.95
Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
by Carol Greene
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Men Who Found America
by Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson
from Living Book Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.79
Pizarro, Orellana, and the Exploration of the Amazon
by Brendon Bernhard
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Real Book About Explorers
by Irvin Block, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Risking it All
Moments in American History
by Anne Souby
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Sir Francis Drake
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Joy Paige
1st edition from Rosen Central
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Christopher Columbus
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Sir Walter Raleigh
The Children's Heroes Series
by Margaret Duncan Kelly
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Usborne Book of Explorers
by Anne Millard, Felicity Everett & Struan Reid
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.00
Vasco de Gama and the Portuguese Explorers
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Westward With Columbus
by John Dyson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Westward With Columbus
by John Dyson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)