Customer Reviews

Hero Tales Volume IV: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes

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This book is an excellent resource on the following Christian Heroes:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: He Dared to Stand Up to Hitler
John Bunyan: The Pilgrim Who Made Progress
Peter Cartwright: The Two-Fisted Preacher
Jim Elliot: A Modern Martyr for Stone-Age Indians
Elizabeth Fry: Angel of Prisons
Festo Kivengere: Africa's Apostle of Love
Eric Liddell: Olympic Champion and Missionary to China
Watchman Nee: Leader of the Chinese House Church Movement
John Newton: The Slave Trader Who Found Grace
Florence Nightingale: A Nurse at Heart
John Perkins: A Man Hate Couldn't Stop
Amanda Smith: American Evangelist to the World
Corrie ten Boom: The Watchmaker's Daughter
Cameron Townsend: Founder of Wycliff Bible Translators
David Zeisberger: Missionary and Friend to Native Americans

The book's format covers a 2 page biography on the hero, then follows up with separate chapters on character qualities specific to the individual (i.e. Corrie ten Boom has three separate chapters describing her faithfulness, thankfulness and forgiveness). An added bonus is that there is a list of all the character qualities in the back of the book. So if you're looking for examples of a specific character quality the list is a wonderful resource.

I found this book very interesting, especially since I have never heard of many of these people. The age level for those who would be interested would probably be 3rd grade and higher. There are no pictures, other than drawings of the person at the beginning of the biography, so it could be quite boring for preschoolers and early elementary grades.

This book is the second in a series of 4 books. However, the books don't build on one another so you don't need to read them in order. I recommend reviewing the hero list in the table of contents and selecting a book based on the heroes that are most interesting to you.

Short stories (8-10 pages) broken up into 4 chapters. (2-3 pages each)
Well written and good questions at the end that are not too hard for kids, but make them think for the answers. They are not just rote questions.
I have read 3 of the 4 volumes. Typically there is 1 or maybe 2 stories that are somewhat questionable as to how the person's life lines up biblically. For example,
this book had the founder of charismatic churches and some of his ideas do not line up biblically. Mother Theresa in another volume (although written well for Protestants)
Just use discretion and pre-read the stories before reading them to your kids.