What is thoroughness? How does someone show self-control? What does it mean to be meek, loyal, or compassionate? When it comes to understanding and developing character traits, biographical stories are a powerful tool.

Powerful not only because they so effectively illustrate virtues but also because your young reader doesn't feel preached at.

These 10 stories are engrossing!

• Instead of being told, "You should be thorough," they will read about Booker T. Washington who cleaned a recitation room so meticulously that it secured his entry into Hampton Institute.
• Instead of hearing that courage is an attractive virtue, they get consumed with the story of Colonel Aleksandr Groten who defied a direct order and exposed himself to enemy fire to save his men from certain death in a swamp.
• Instead of being admonished to be more compassionate, they see how during the Russian Revolution Gregory Burmistr gave his last pair of felt boots to a young girl suffering from the cold, despite being poor himself.

Packed with adventure, danger, and real historical drama, these books keep your students turning pages as they devour tales of daring escapes, life-threatening risks, wartime heroism, and sacrificial acts of kindness.

In ten biographical sketches, see how a figure from the late 1800s through World War I demonstrates a key virtue.

1. Thoroughness ~ Booker T. Washington
2. Contentment ~ Horatio Spafford
3. Hospitality ~ Kate Gibson
4. Self-Control ~ Kate Shelley
5. Meekness ~ George Washington Carver
6. Joyfulness ~ Lieutenant Armand Pinsard
7. Courage ~ Colonel Aleksandr Groten
8. Loyalty ~ Darya Efimova
9. Obedience ~ Sergeant Alvin C. York
10. Compassion ~ Gregory Burmistr