Our Favorite Children's Biography Series: Do Great Things for God Featuring Biographies of Amy Carmichael and Maria Fearing
* I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of these books from The Good Book Company and all thoughts below are my own. I was not required to write a positive review. This blog post includes affiliate links. View my affiliate disclosure here.
Amy Carmichael: The Brown-Eyed Girl Who Learned to Pray
Written by Hunter Beless and Illustrated by Heloise Mab
About This Book:
Part of the Do Great Things For God series
Ages: 4-7
At a time when being a single female missionary was extremely costly, Amy Carmichael spent her life sharing Christ’s love with hundreds of women and children in Asia. Along the way, she adapted to fit into cultures very different from her own, learned to depend on God in prayer, and became a mother to many children who had been sold, kidnapped, outcast, or abandoned.
Her inspiring resolve to follow Christ and her sincere commitment to his word make her a great role model for young children and will enthuse them about the great things they can do for God too.
My Review:
Amy Carmichael’s biography is an excellent addition to a beloved series in our household. Amy’s mission work is inspiring and she was a strong woman of faith, leaving behind a strong legacy and testimony. This story is easy to read and understand, even for the youngest minds and demonstrates though Amy’s story, how God can begin to work in our hearts and lives at a young age. My Kindergarten-aged daughter and I loved the concept of Amy’s “Ask and Receive” prayer journal and as a takeaway from this story, it is something we want to implement in our lives as well.
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I found this book to have darling illustrations, simple words and a strong faith-based message. It is inspiring, uplifting and encouraging. As always, I love that this series includes a photograph of Amy Carmichael and a timeline of the important milestones in her life. We also enjoyed looking at the two page map of where she traveled and ministered plus were very excited about the additional resources page that offered free downloads from the publisher to accompany this story!
Be sure to check out the link below to grab the worksheets, a family project and more via my friends at The Good Book Co., the publisher for this series!
Maria Fearing: The Girl Who Dreamed of Distant Lands
Written by K.A. Ellis and Illustrated by Isobel Muniz
About This Book:
Part of the Do Great Things For God series
Ages: 4-7
Read the true story of Maria Fearing, a missionary who shared Christ’s love with children in Africa and protected them from slavery.
Once freed from slavery on an Alabama plantation, Maria Fearing went to Africa to show children Jesus’ compassion and protect them from being sold into slavery. She even helped translate the Bible so that the children could read it in their own language. Her patience and grit in overcoming incredible obstacles to heed God’s call make her a great role model for young children.
My Review:
Born as a slave and ministering to many formerly enslaved children in Africa, Maria Fearing is a woman of great testimony and it is an honor to have her story grace our shelves. This is a fantastic book that details the awful and broken way society has treated people of color. After the Civil War, when Maria and her family were freed from slavery, she chose to fight for other children enslaved overseas. In this story, it is clear that God used her story to mold her into the incredible woman she became, a mother to many.
We found this story to be easy to read and understand and my kindergarten-aged daughter enjoyed it immensely. The illustrations are subtle and accurately depict the story while still remaining age-appropriate. As with the other books in the series, we enjoyed the additional resources like the link to the free downloads, the map of where Maria traveled, the timeline of her life and of course the photograph of Maria.
This story, and this series, is a great way to encourage, inspire and uplift little hearts and minds. I love that when we read it, we aren’t reading fiction, but rather about a person who had great faith and made a difference in the world.
Be sure to check out the link below to grab some fun worksheets via my friends at The Good Book Co., the publisher for this series!
More from the “Do Great Things for God” Series:
Learn about Helen Roseveare, Betty Greene, Gladys Aylward, Fanny Crosby and other women of faith in this amazing series that inspires young hearts and minds in their faith and desire to be all God has designed them to be!
Family · Picture Book · Self-Discovery
Help Children Discover the Something That Makes Them Special!
Join little Wombat as he builds a family tree for a school project and discovers that each of his family members have something that makes them special. As he sets out to discover his own specialty, this cute picture book will entertain little readers.