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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133 Items found Print
Active Filters: 19th Century America, 6th grade (Ages 11-12), In-Stock Books & Materials
Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
by Sterling North
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (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 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
Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$3.95
Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ellen Wilson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
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)
Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
from Macrae-Smith Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
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)
Buffalo Bill: Frontier Daredevil
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (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
Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
by Nancy Whitelaw
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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
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
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Aileen Wells Parks
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
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
Electrical Wizard
by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 4th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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
Forward March to Freedom
by Barbara Kay Greenleaf
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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 Train
by Dorothy Sterling
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
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 - Unit Study Curriculum Guide
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Geronimo: Apache Freedom Fighter
Native American Biographies
by Spring Hermann
from Enslow
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1990 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
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
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Lisa Halvorsen
from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Harriet Tubman
by Frances T. Humphreville
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Harriet Tubman
by Ann Petry
from HarperCollins
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
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)
House of Dies Drear
by Virginia Hamilton
Reissue from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.99 $4.00 (4 in stock)
Hunters Blaze the Trails
by Edith S. McCall
New 1980 Edition from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Hunters Blaze the Trails
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
In Their Own Words: Lewis and Clark
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Inventing the Future
by David Edward Sloane, Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 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)
James Fenimore Cooper
by Donald A. Ringe
from Twayne Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
James Longstreet
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Melanie LeTourneau
from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (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)
Jedediah Smith
by Sharlene and Ted Nelson
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Jefferson Davis
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by W. Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
John Charles Frémont
by Charles W. Maynard
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Joseph E. Johnston
Famous Figures of the Civil War Era
by Christin Ditchfield
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
for 4th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
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
Little Annie Oakley and Other Rugged People
by Stewart H. Holbrook
First Ediition from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Lotta Crabtree
by Lois V. Harris
from Pelican Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Make Way for Sam Houston
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Elise Primavera
First Edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain: Writing About the Frontier
by Jean Rikhoff
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mark Twain: Young Writer
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Mariam E. Mason
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Meet Thomas Jefferson
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Marvin Barrett
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
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
Mr. Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg
by Mary Kay Phelan
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
O Captain, My Captain
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Sterling Hundley
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$19.99
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)
People at the Center of Women's Suffrage
by Deborah Kops
1st edition from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Pioneer Traders
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Real Book about Buffalo Bill
by Adolph Regli, illustrated by Robert J. Lee
from Garden City Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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: Young Confederate
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Helen Albee Monsell
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
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)
Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention
Events That Shaped America
by Dale Anderson, Sabrina Crewe
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (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)
Shoes for Everyone
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.95 $6.00 (3 in stock)
Sojourner Truth
by Patricia & Frederick McKissack
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Standing Like a Stone Wall
by James I. Robertson Jr.
from Atheneum
for 6th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Stonewall
by Jean Fritz & Stephen Gammell
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
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