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Famous Biography Books For Children

Biographies are not only a great way to introduce young people to important people from history or in modern times but they are also a good way to expose children to historical periods, business, politics, scientific concepts, sports and movements in music and art.

This is a list of some of the best biography books that are good for middle school kids. All these books are inexpensive and cost around $ 6 to $ 7 per book. Amazon sells most of these books. You can also find some of them at used book sales also.

Who Was Series

The great thing about Who was series is that the books can be read by 1st and 2nd graders and up. These books are easy to understand and interesting for younger children. Apart from that, they also give lots of advice. There are many publications in this set. The collection covers a variety of subjects such as Business (Steve Jobs), science (Charles Darwin), art ( Leonardo Da Vinci, Claude Monet), entertainment (The Louis Armstrong, Harry Houdini, Beatles), politics (Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan) and history (Paul Revere, George Washington).

History Maker Bios

This is another great series for first and second graders. The slides have some amazing photographs and lots of photos as opposed to ‘Who was’ series that mainly uses black and white illustrations. These books are only about 50 pages but they cover some of the very interesting people, like John Deere, Dolly Madison, WK Kellogg, Levi Strauss, and Milton Hershey.

DK Biography Series

This series is most likely for the 4th grade and up. These publications are a good follow-up to the ‘Who was’ series and History Maker series. This series has biographies of many interesting people like Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Gandhi and Marie Curie. The series also includes illustrations on early presidents of America like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Sterling Biographies

This is another great series for anyone in fifth grade through middle school. The series has publications on Alexander the Great, Chief Joseph, Anne Frank, Davy Crockett, Jacques Cousteau, Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig and Cleopatra. The length of each book is about 130 pages.

Childhood of famous Americans

This series has been consistently popular since it was first published in 1940. Many printings of these publications have cemented them in the memories of generations of young American readers. These biographies are quite fictitious, for the most part, but the last few chapters express the character’s place in American history. Books in this series introduce young readers to a famous personality in a story format and then highlight the character’s own youth in detail. This keeps children interested in great figures of the history. These books are suitable for 3rd graders and up and are great for developing the reading skills in children.

American Adventures

These classic pieces are out-of-print but definitely they are worth hunting down. These books are around 250 pages in length and are written with 2nd grade reading level. These books are divided in sections with various chapters illustrating a personality from history. Enjoy them if you are able to find them!

Opal Wheeler Composer Biographies

Opal Wheeler is back in print. This series introduces children to the life and music of some of the great composers. The author believes that children must know about great musicians from history, though not all of them were noble men. Written for 3rd-4th class readers, Wheeler’s biographies are appreciated by young as well as old readers.

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Beethoven Biography

Ludwig Van Beethoven’s birth was on 16th December 1770 in the Germany’s town of Bonn. He was born in a family of seven but it’s him and other two boys that survived. His father Johann was a musician and was instrumental in honing Beethoven’s musical skills and interest early in his life. At the tender of seven a, Ludwig Van Beethoven proved his musical forte by giving his first public performance at Cologne on March 1778. His father had to convince the audience that the boy was six years old since Beethoven always believed he was younger than his actual age. His first music was published in 1787 at the age of 17 and it’s after this accomplishment that Beethoven set out to Vienna for greener pastures. His visit was however cut short upon hearing of his mother’s death and had to return to Bonn.

Five years later, Beethoven was on his way back to Vienna, where he took his musical career a notch higher by studying composition and counterpoint in 1792. This is the time when he made efforts to prove that he was as an accomplished composer and pianist. By around 1800, Beethoven was striving really heard to master upper-end classical style. His efforts bore fruit between 1801 and 1802 when he managed to come up with the second symphony. This is often referred to the early period of Ludwig’s musical career.

The fact that Beethoven was always in good terms with the town’s aristocrats made him to start earning a guaranteed income. The terms were to get better in 1809 when Prince Lobkowitz, Prince Kinsky and Archduke Rudolp promised Ludwig a secured annual income provided he stayed on. By 1813, Beethoven had indisputably revolutionized his classical style to a more distinctive and vibrant style. This is the period within which he wrote several symphonies and a wide array of chamber music. Beethoven managed to write about nine symphonies in his entire musical career.

As Beethoven continued to take his musical career into greater heights, a major setback – one which almost made him end his life prematurely – settled in. His hearing ability started fading away slowly by slowly and this caused immeasurable trauma to Ludwig as it was having a direct bearing on his social life quite considerably. It is not quite clear whether this disorder is what made him not to have a way with women or it was as a result of his childhood experiences. He at one time had a relationship with Antoine Brentano- a lady whom he addressed as the immortal beloved in his letters- who left him only to be married by another man. This was around 1812, period when Beethoven’s deafness became worse to a point that he could no longer stage a performance.

Due to his deafness, Beethoven became more concerned with private matters rather than his musical endeavors. He started pursuing his nephew’s custody after his brother’s demise in 1815. A turbulent relationship ensued between Uncle Beethoven and nephew Karl, to a point that the young man tried committing suicide in 1826. Ill health and poverty characterized Beethoven’s late period in his musical career and this is presumably what led to his death in March 26 1817.

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