Irene Howat, an award-winning author accomplished in both children and adult writing, has certainly made sure that children will be enthralled. Painstakingly researched, these personalities have been re-animated with the author’s equal emphasis on the quirks and affinities, pure joy and heartaches of their childhood and the better known trials and tribulations of their adult life. Lovingly fleshed out with a generous littering of tiny, precious nuggets of their everyday experiences, these personalities burst out of the neat confines and potentially limiting categorical titles of each book into real, distinctive individuals. 

  

Imagine little Martin Luther, featured in Ten Boys who made a Difference, tossing and turning in bed at night, fretting about not being able to get to heaven after he dies, or unflinchingly bearing his father’s frequent beatings. Then grow up with him to savour the moment when he “went from verse to verse in his Bible, shaking with excitement”, “absolutely brain-blown” at his realization that “we are saved by faith and not by works.” 

Imagine a teenage Lottie D. Moon, featured in Ten Girls who made History, “hooting with laughter” and declaring that the “D” in her name stands for the devil and the reason she goes to church is to “look at the good-looking boys and to pick holes in the ministers’ sermons”; then journey with her as she grows up to become a missionary in China where she has to “pray a lot about her disgust at [the villages’] dirt and smells and people touching her and asking personal questions.” 

 

That which unites the whole myriad of personalities in this series – the reluctant, the fearless, the fearful, the skeptic and more – and that which lies at the core of each mini-biography is the character’s conversion experience and faith journey, which allows him/her to overcome all odds, to discern and finally fulfil his or her true vocation. 

  

Each of their faith stories never come to an end, but lingers on in our hearts. At the end of each chapter, Irene Howat has thoughtfully added a devotional section. It consists of a Fact File, a Keynote which highlights and helps the young reader grasp the more important points of the story, and ‘Think’, a short, sensitive reflection on the character’s life. Finally, a simple, heartfelt Prayer, all of which quietly, but effectively reinforces the series’ challenge to its young readers, to “read this book to find out what God wants you to do!”

Reading age guide: 

Read to: Age 7 to 8 

Read myself: Age 8 to 12

Selected titles are available at a special price of $9 from Wesley BookNook: