Biography by Genre

There are a lot more genres of biographies than we have listed here, but they aren't included because we simply don't have titles to put in them. Again, these categories are in place to help you narrow the focus of your search, and to find the book you need with as little frustration as possible.

Autobiographies & Memoirs are books written by the person about whom they're about. Autobiographies are explicitly biographical, written in order to impart information about the author's life and context; memoirs, on the other hand, are often more creative, and are usually about something bigger than the details of the subject's life.

While we don't encourage getting all your history from fiction (or even most of it), a good Biographical Novel will combine the best elements of fiction and biography into a personal portrait that imparts both the essence of the subject's life, and the cultural context in which he or she lived. Plus, they're just more fun to read.

You won't find any of these for people who lived more than a couple hundred years ago, but Photobiographies can be especially useful for helping readers understand the person and era they're learning about. Often times these don't have as much outright information as a more traditional biography, but enough quality photographs are a good compensation.

For younger kids (though there are some great ones for older readers, too), Picture Book Biographies help us visualize who it is we're reading about....or simply keep us interested. The best ones do both, and the very best ones do both while still highlighting the artist's vision and interpretation of people and events.

Different genres will fill different needs; if you're working on a big project or unit study, it's a good idea to select titles from all of them. The goal of listing them here is to help narrow your search; as our collection expands, we'll likely be adding genres to the list, and shaping your search results in increasingly precise and illuminating ways.

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.

 

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254 Items found Print
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26 Fairmont Avenue
by Tomie De Paola
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
from Penguin Random House
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books
by Kay Winters, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
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 (hardcover)
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire; edited by Rea Berg
75th Anniversary from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 1st-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.95
Account of Mary Rowlandson and Other Indian Captivity Narratives
by Mary Rowlandson
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$6.95
Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
from National Geographic
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00
Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution
by Diane Stanley
from Simon and Schuster
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$18.00
All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 2
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-12th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$18.00
All Things Wise and Wonderful
James Herriot Series Book 3
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
Always Inventing
by Tom L. Matthews
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Amelia to Zora
1st edition from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$7.95
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99
America's War Heroes
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$10.39
American Experience Storybook
Copper Lodge Library
by Stephanie B. Meyer
from Classical Conversations
for 4th-8th grade
in Classical Conversations (Location: CUR-CC)
$16.99
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$19.99
Apologia Pro Vita Sua
Dover Giant Thrift Editions
by John Henry Newman
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.00
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Dover Thrift Editions
by James Weldon Johnson
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Charles G. Finney
by Charles G. Finney
from Bethany House
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.00
Autobiography of G. K. Chesterton
by G. K. Chesterton
from Ignatius Press
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.95
Autobiography of George Muller
by George Muller
from Whitaker House
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Bach's Goldberg Variations
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
Bard of Avon
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Before There Was Mozart
by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome
2nd ed. from Beautiful Feet Books
for 1st-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Benjamin Franklin
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings
Signet Classics
by Benjamin Franklin
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.95
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)
$6.39
Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
from Square Fish Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Bill Peet
by Bill Peet
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 4th-8th grade
1990 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
1992 Odyssey Classics edition from Clarion Books
for 5th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Black Like Me
by John Howard Griffin & Robert Bonazzi
35th anniversary from Signet Classics
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Blood Brothers
by Elias Chacour with David Hazard
from Baker Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
$14.99
Book of Golden Deeds
by Charlotte M. Yonge
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.99
Born Again
by Charles Colson
from Chosen Books
for 9th grade-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Boy
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Boy Who Drew Birds
by Jacqueline Davies
New title from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by Bryan Mealer, William Kamkwamba
from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider
by Barbara Herkert, illustrated by Lauren Castillo
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Bridge to the Sun
by Gwen Terasaki
from Rock Creek Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle
by Bruce Olson
from Charisma House
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99 $10.00 (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
C. S. Lewis: The Man Behind Narnia
by Beatrice Gormley
from Eerdmans
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00
Catherine's War
by Julia Billet and Claire Fauvel, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger
from Harperalley
for 7th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99
Charlotte Mason
by Lanaya Gore, illustrated by Twila Farmer
from Blue Sky Daisies
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Charlotte Mason Education (Location: HSR-METCM)
$18.95
Chasing Space for Young Readers
by Leland Melvin
from Amistad Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$7.99
Children of the Storm
by Natasha Vins
from Bob Jones University Press
Autobiography for 8th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
for 1st-4th grade
2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Church History ABCs
by Ned Bustard, Stephen J. Nichols
from Crossway Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$13.59
Classic Slave Narratives
by Henry Louis Gates, ed.
Reissue from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.95 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Cleopatra
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$17.00
Colors of the Wind
by J L Powers, illustrated by George Mendoza & Hayley Morgan-Sanders
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Confessions
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$13.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (introduction & translation by R.S. Pine-Coffin)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$10.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by John K. Ryan)
from Image
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Maria Boulding)
from Vintage Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$14.95
Confessions of Saint Augustine
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Garry Wills)
from Penguin Classics
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Confessions of Saint Augustine
by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Sarah Ruden)
from Modern Library
Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Confessions of St. Augustine
by St. Augustine (translation by Philip Burton)
from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.60
Confessions of St. Augustine
by Saint Augustine (translation by Henry Chadwick)
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$7.95
Corrie Ten Boom
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (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
Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
from Spectra Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
from Bantam Books
Biography for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Down and Out in Paris and London
by George Orwell
from Mariner Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Education of a Wandering Man
by Louis L'amour
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99
Egg and I
by Betty MacDonald
from HarperCollins
Biography for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Eleanor
by Barbara Cooney
1st Scholastic from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Everlasting is the Past
by Walter Wangerin
from Rabbit Room Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.95
Every Falling Star
by Sungju Lee and Susan McClelland
from Amulet Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Every Living Thing
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.99
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
by John H. Haaren & A.B. Poland
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Reference for 5th - 10th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$13.95
Farewell Summer
by Ray Bradbury
1st edition from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Fifty Famous People
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 1st-4th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.95
Finding Narnia
by Caroline McAlister, Illustrated by Jessica Lanan
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
First Voyage to America
by Christopher Columbus
from Dover Publications
Historical Primary Sources for 10th-Adult
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.95
Flying to the Moon
by Michael Collins
from Sunburst Book
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Four American Inventors
by Frances M. Perry
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$13.95
Four Voyages
by Christopher Columbus
from Penguin Classics
Historical Primary Sources for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$17.00
Freedom's Children
by Ellen Levine
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$7.99
George Washington
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
George Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
Girl From Yamhill
by Beverly Cleary
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.39
God of the Garden
by Andrew Peterson
from B&H Books
for 10th-Adult
in Creating Culture (Location: XCU-CRE)
$17.99
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Governor of England
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$17.95 $10.00 (3 in stock)
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
by John Bunyan
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$15.00
Great Christian Classics - Volume I
by Kevin Swanson
2nd edition from Generations with Vision
for 9th-12th grade
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$42.00
Gregor Mendel
by Cheryl Bardoe
Reprint from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Grief Observed
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Death/Grief for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Haydn's Farewell Symphony
by Anna Harwell Celenza & JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
Heavenly Man
by Brother Yun, Paul Hattaway
from Monarch Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
Signet Classics
by Helen Keller
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.95
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