This is a remarkable, and hopeful children’s book about the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s. The book tells the story of two lives, in simple, clear text and powerful illustrations. The first biography is of a young black boy growing up in Atlanta. He is constantly confronted with painful reminders of the injustice and prejudice directed towards the members of his race. The second biography is of a young Jewish boy growing up in Poland. He too is constantly confronted with painful reminders of the injustice and prejudice directed towards the members of his race.

In the 1960s, the young boy from Atlanta had grown up to be a Baptist preacher like his father. He led a movement to end the injustices of racial segregation and prejudice. That story, too, is told in the book. When Martin organized a protest march in Alabama, his followers were confronted by police with dogs and clubs. Martin issued a national call for all God’s children to come to Alabama and join the march.

The Jewish boy from Poland, who had emigrated to America and become an influential rabbi, was among those who answered the call. On March 21, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King, Jr. prayed together. And then they marched together.

In January of 1968, Martin Luther King spoke at Abraham Heschel’s 61^st birthday party. In April of 1968, Abraham Heschel spoke at Martin Luther King’s funeral.

This is a simple, yet powerful book with a message that parents should be encouraged to teach their children. Published in May of 2008, forty years after the death of Martin Luther King.

I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. In early April of 1968, I turned thirteen years old. In late April, Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was, to say the least, a terrible year. In Atlanta, my family had been proud of Dr. King, and we mourned his death. We were proud that Atlanta had a reputation as “the city too busy to hate.” The ideals of the Declaration and Constitution have taken a long time to be fully realized. Teaching our children about the ideals and the struggle is an important part of their education.

The book is a hardback, 40 pages, full color throughout. The text is written on a 3^rd-4^th grade reading level, but the book will work very well read out loud to younger children as well. As Good as Anybody is available directly from Greenleaf Press for $16.99.

• Rob Shearer
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press

It is with great pride that Greenleaf Press announces the publication of the Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature ($19.95) by Cyndy Shearer

For over ten years, Cyndy has been teaching high school literature classes in home school tutorial settings. For the past five years, she has been teaching all four years of western literature at the Schaeffer Study Center, in Mt. Juliet. We are very pleased to be able to publish the second volume in her four year syllabus. The Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature joins the already published Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature
($18.95). The Greenleaf Guides for years three & four (Early Modern Lit and Modern Lit) are under development – meaning Cyndy is already teaching them and refining the material.

Like the Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature, the Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature takes an inductive approach to the study of selected outstanding literary compositions. Rather than studying short excerpts from dozens of possible works, Cyndy has selected a representative set of selections for close study. Students are led by a series of questions that help them to read and understand the text, and then to reflect on the larger questions being dealt with and the authors’ worldviews. A high school student who completes these two literary studies will have a superior background and preparation for the study of modern literature – either in high school or college.

Beginning with Bede and Anglo-Saxon poetry, the Guide (with wry observations by Cyndy) takes students through Beowulf, Gawain, Chaucer, & Hamlet. A worldview bonus is the conclusion of the course with a study of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – Tom Stoppard’s raucous verbal pyrotechnics on the themes of fate and death which uses two of the minor characters from Hamlet who get caught up in Shakespeare’s play and then try to puzzle out what the intrigues of Denmark mean when all the Shakespearean characters have left the stage.

The text is designed for an instructor (parent, teacher, or tutor) and student who are reading the text together. Some students may be able to complete this study on their own, but the best experiences will be the discussion of themes and issues with another reader. You don’t have to be an expert in medieval lit in order to teach this course – you just have to be willing to do the reading along with your student(s).

Cyndy is imminently well qualified to teach and write on these themes. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Queens College (she graduated in three years and wrote an astonishing honors thesis on the poetry of T.S.Eliot). She has an MA in English from the University of Virginia, where she studied (and wrote) modern poetry with the gifted poet, Gregory Orr. Cyndy has been homeschooling the Shearer children since 1985, having graduated five from high school – and with six more still at home. She co-founded the Francis Schaeffer Study Center in Mt. Juliet with her husband Rob in 2003.

Along with the Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature, Greenleaf Press is pleased to make available a complete study package which includes the Guide and all six of the texts selected by Cyndy for her course on Medieval Literature. The texts include:

The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, by the Venerable Bede
Beowulf, trans. Rebsamen
Gawain, trans. Tolkien
Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard
The Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature, by Cyndy Shearer

The Medieval Lit Study Package is available for $70.91 (regular retail - $78.70)

Also available from Greenleaf Press is the Ancient Lit Study Package which contains:

The Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature ($18.95)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sandars translation)
The Odyssey (Robert Fitzgerald translation)
The Oedipus Cycle (Robert Fitzgerald translation)
Antigone by Anouilh (Barbara Bray translation)

The Ancient Lit Study Package
is available for $61.08 (regular retail - $67.85)

Both the Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Literature and the Greenleaf Guide to Medieval Literature are also available as downloadable eBooks, making it easy for a parent/teacher/tutor to provide the text to their student, while using the eBook to follow along on their computer.

Needless to say, I highly recommend these high school literature courses for homeschoolers, classical schools, and any high school program that wants a thoughtful rich study of the history of Western Literature.

• Rob Shearer
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press

By popular demand, we have restocked and resumed selling Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study and all 18 of the Audubon Field Guides.For those who want to do nature study (especially for those inspired by Charlotte Mason), these are invaluable resources.

The late Anna Botsford Comstock was the founder and first head of the Department of Nature Study at Cornell University and the first woman to be appointed to the Cornell faculty. Written originally for elementary school teachers, this book is as valid and helpful today as it was when it was first written in 1911.

Here’s an accolade to her from the Conservation Hall of Fame at the National Wildlife Federation:

“Named one of America’s 12 greatest living women in a 1923 survey by the League of Women Voters, Anna Botsford Comstock was a conservationist before most people knew what the word meant.

Comstock is widely recognized as the mother of nature education. Along with her husband, John, whom she met while she was a student at Cornell University, she formed the Comstock Publishing Company. Its motto: “Nature through Books.” In 1911 the company published Anna’s 900-page Handbook of Nature Study. The now-famous sourcebook for teachers went through 24 editions and was translated into eight languages.

In her book, Comstock emphasized the rewards of direct observation. She was ahead of her time in stressing the importance of natural relationships that work to form what we now call an ecosystem. The point of her approach to nature study, she said, was to “cultivate the child’s imagination, love of the beautiful, and sense of companionship with life out-of-doors.”

Comstock was instrumental in launching a pilot nature study program - the first of its kind in the country - in the schools of Westchester County, New York. In time, the program grew into a nationwide teacher-education program administered by Cornell University and other colleges.

By encouraging instructors to take their students outside to learn, and then helping them see the relationship between people and the natural world, Anna Botsford Comstock left her mark on countless generations.”

Similarly, the 18 Audubon Field Guides are among the best nature resources ever produced. First released over 30 years ago, they are still magnificent. Each is over 800 pages, and each has 200+ color photographs to aid in identification. There are guides on Birds, Trees, Wildflowers, Mushrooms, Insects, Seashells, Rocks, Fossils, and Weather. These are books that we still consult regularly, 20 years after having first purchased them.

The Handbook of Nature Study is a paperback, 887 pages, available direct from Greenleaf Press for $26.00.

Most of the Audubon Field Guides sell for $19.95. A few have been more recently updated and reprinted and sell for $20.95 or $21.95.

• Rob Shearer
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center

“Political correctness, at its heart, is the effort to dissolve the foundation on which American and European culture has been built. It has been a demolition project: undermine Western civilization in whatever way possible, and build a brave new world from the rubble.”

“Multiculturalism has nothing to do with genuine love for natives of the Australian outback or the monks of Tibet. It is an effort to crowd out our own cultural traditions. Radical secularization – in the name of “separation of church and state” – aims to burn our religious roots. Public education, purveying convenient untruths about our past – the Middle Ages were miserable, the ancients were simpletons, the church is oppressive – has sought to rob us of our heritage. Misrepresentations of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the last two hundred years serve to create an illusion of unvarying progress made possible by abandoning the old ways. And that is the central myth that justifies the continued discarding of our religious, intellectual, and moral traditions.”

“Once our culture is untethered from Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem – once we’ve forgotten about or dismissed Moses, Plato, and Jesus – then the PC platoons in academia, government, and the media hope to steer the ship of culture to new shores.”

“Because political correctness is a project of destruction, the message has not always been consistent. Either Shakespeare was a subversive, closeted homosexual, or he was an ignorant chauvinist. Either Jesus was a non-judgmental hippie, or he was a preacher of hate. But this much has been consistent: anything that reeks of the West is therefore politically incorrect and must be denigrated or condemned.”

“For those of us who love the West, it’s a daunting battle. The other side has the mainstream media, the Ivy League, the political classes, and a lot more money. Thankfully, on our side, we’ve got thousands of years of history and some pretty big guns – with names like Aristotle, Augustine, Burke, and Eliot.”

“The bad ideas touted today as revolutionary and enlightened are hardly new; the West’s great minds have battled relativism, atheism, materialism, and State-worship for millennia. The great ideas can hold their own against anything today’s most renowned Women’s Studies professor can devise.”

• Anthony Esolen, Professor of English at Providence College
  from the Preface to The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization

I really can’t sum it up any better than Prof. Esolen. If you know a college student taking Western Civ, you should buy them this book. If you plan to teach your own children Western Civ, you should buy yourself this book. Paperback, 340 pages, available directly from Greenleaf Press for $19.95.

• Rob Shearer
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center

In honor of Independence Day:

George vs. George: The American Revolution as seen from Both Sides, by Rosalyn Schanzer. It’s rare for a children’s book in the US to give any consideration to the British position on the rebellion in the colonies. Schanzer has the perfect hook to start her book – the similarities between George Washington of Virginia and George III of England. George III was 22 when he succeeded his grandfather as King in 1760. George Washington was slightly older (he was 28 in 1760) but his upbringing, as an English gentleman in the colonies was remarkably similar to King George’s in England. From the similarities in their personal lives, Schanzer then examines how government worked in England and in the Colonies and then reviews the controversy over taxes in the colonies from 1764-1770. Finally, she shows how George vs. George came into direct conflict in 1774-1775 over the blockade of Boston and the attempt to disarm the colonists and seize their guns at Lexington & Concord. She gives a detailed comparison of the British forces vs. the Rebel forces and then gives a good overview of the Tides of War 1776-1783. There are two final sections on what each George did after the war. Washington went on to be President of course, and George III ruled as King of England for 60 years, dying in 1820. Paperback, 60 pages, $6.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Farmer George Plants a Nation, by Peggy Thomas.. A delightful book that shows us an overlooked side of George Washington. Washington was the owner of a substantial plantation of Virginia and devoted most of his life to managing it, improving it, tinkering with methods and machines to improve his crops. In many ways, he might be described as man who spent his life farming, with a few interludes where he dabbled in politics and military command. The book begins with Washington as a young man who has just inherited his older brother’s plantation, Mt. Vernon (named for the British admiral under whom his brother had served). Washington orders books on farming from England and then throws himself into the study of farming in general, and the characteristics of his own land and climate in particular. One of his first innovations was a combination plow/tiller/harrow that reduced the time and effort needed to sow his fields with barley. Over the years, no matter where he was, Washington thoughts always turned to Mt. Vernon. He wrote home asking for news, and giving instructions for projects he wanted carried forward. The period from 1781 to 1787 was perhaps his happiest. The war with Britain was over, and he was able to spend his days uninterrupted tending Mt. Vernon. During the eight years that he served as President, Washington kept Mt. Vernon close to his heart. From the presidential desk in New York, he designed new barns and new machinery. It is characteristic of his life, that his last act, in December of 1799 was to ride out and check on his fields. Hardback, 40 pages, $17.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Duel! Burr and Hamilton’s Deadly War of Words,
by Dennis Brindell Fradin. An unlikely topic for a children’s book, but an important and jarring event from early in United States history. Hamilton and Burr had both served as officers on George Washington’s staff. Hamilton was appointed by Washington as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Burr was elected Vice President in 1800 on the winning ticket with Thomas Jefferson. Both men had difficult childhoods (a fact poignantly referenced in the book’s opening pages). Hamilton was orphaned at 13 on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Burr was orphaned at two in Newark, New Jersey. Near the end of his term as vice president, Burr ran for governor of New York. Hamilton opposed him and when Burr lost, he blamed Hamilton for having started malicious rumors that blackened his name. He challenged Hamilton to a duel. Hamilton accepted the challenge. The drawings of the two men rowing across the Hudson, facing each other at twenty paces, aiming, and firing are sobering and compelling. Each fired one shot. Burr was unscathed, but Hamilton was fatally wounded. This is a fascinating look at one of the less savory moments in our political history. The book makes the point that after the duel, Burr was disgraced – his future in politics destroyed. The book affords an excellent opportunity to talk with children about anger, forgiveness, and the terrible consequences of rash deeds. Hardback, 40 pages, $16.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

My Name is York,
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk. One of the fascinating details of the Lewis and Clark expedition is the inclusion in the party of Captain Clark’s black slave, York. With simple, understated text, Van Steenwyk imagines what the voyage of exploration would have looked like through York’s eyes. The color illustrations by Bill Farnsworth and arresting and compelling. They capture the tension between a new world and a new country dedicated to freedom that still tolerates the continuation of slavery. Paperback, 32 pages, $7.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis & Clark
by Rosalyn Schanzer. Schanzer takes her text form the Journals of Lewis and Clark, selecting the most noteworthy, daring, arresting incidents they experienced along the way. She takes the diary entries and illustrates the events that they describe. The result is an adventure book, all the more compelling because it is true. Paperback, 48 pages, $7.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Gold Fever! Tales from the California Gold Rush, by Rosalyn Schanzer. To prepare for writing and illustrating this book, Schanzer visited every California gold rush historical site she could find. She took more than 600 photographs of everything from gold nuggets to saloons in order ot make her art as accurate and flavorful as possible. With skill and humor Rosalyn brings historical characters vividly to life. The adventures of the 49ers, whether they traveled by land or by sea make some tall tales sound tame. Paperback, 48 pages, $7.95 directly from Greenleaf Press.

Have a happy (and safe) Fourth of July celebration! (I always enjoy the fireworks!)

• Rob Shearer
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center

These seven biographies have one thing in common. Nope, they’re not all Presidents (see Benjamin Franklin). They were all written and illustrated by the incomparable Cheryl Harness. There is a different unity of purpose achieved when the illustrator is also the author of the text in a book. Harness is a master of both crafts. She tells a very good story – clear and straightforward, with an instinct that helps her to select the anecdotes and incidents that are intrinsically interesting and character-revealing about her main subject.

In George Washington, Harness shows Washington as a frontier surveyor, Virginia planter, commander of the militia, and quiet delegate to the colonial legislature. She shows the moment at which the Continental Congress selected him to command the Continental army, with the famous founding fathers looking on as a he addresses them, reading from his notes. She shows him crossing the Delaware, seated, cold and grim-faced as he is rowed across to New Jersey, gambling his small army in a surprise attack. Then she shows him in September of 1783, at the end of seven years of war, saying goodbye to his officers at Queen’s Head Tavern in New York after the last British warship had sailed away with the last of the British troops. Four years later, he reluctantly leaves Mt. Vernon and heads for Philadelphia to preside over the Constitutional Convention. It took another ten years, until the spring of 1797 before he could return to live at Mt. Vernon year-round. The last picture Harness gives us is of Washington, aged 68, in December of 1799 out riding through the fields of Mt. Vernon, making his rounds. The chill resulted in a cold which worsened and led to his death on December 14, 1799. This is an excellent biography. Text is written at a 5^th-7^th grade level and those are the ages who will enjoy the detailed pictures and notes the most, though older readers could learn much from the text as well.

You can tell that Harness feels a certain affection for John Adams by reading her introduction:

“In the nation’s capital, the sun glitters on stone monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. John Adams was every bit as brave as the former and as brilliant as the latter but there is – at this writing – no such monument for him. Perhaps this is fitting, because stone is cold, and he was anything but. The United States is a proper, living monument to intense, cranky, warm, heart-on-his-sleeve John Adams – America’s champion.”

Her drawings are, as usual, wonderful. There is a full-page portrait of Adams (is he smiling or smirking?). There are pictures of his families house in Braintree and of Adams as a boy skipping school and hiking to a hill overlooking Boston harbor. The developments in Massachusetts that brought Adams to the forefront are retold in a simple summary. In a delightful format (made possible my Adams’ lifelong, affectionate correspondence with his wife, Abigail) each page has at the bottom a line from a letter – usually one from Abigail on one page and one from John on the other. There are several wonderful pictures depicting Adams diplomatic mission to France during the Revolutionary war (where he served alongside Franklin – and was accompanied by his young son, John Quincy). The political triumph of Adams’ life was his service for eight years as George Washington’s trusted vice president (Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state). When Washington’s term ended, Adams was elected as the second President of the United States (with Jefferson as HIS vice president). The political tragedy which followed was his estrangement from Jefferson leading to their fiercely fought election contest of 1800, in which Adams was defeated for a second term and Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States. Harness concludes with several pages depicting the Adams living in retirement back in Massachusetts, in a house they named Peacefield. Twelve years after their bitter election contest, Adams wrote a letter to Jefferson and began a fourteen year correspondence in which the two old friends and then rivals became friends again. Adams lived long enough to see his son John Quincy elected President in November of 1824, though he was unable to attend the inauguration in March of 1825. On July 4^th, 1826 – the 50^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – Adams died quietly at his home in Massachusetts.

Thomas Jefferson, in Harness’s tale is a tall, gangly, red-haired, brilliant Virginia planter, with piercing eyes transfix your attention in the portrait Harness has produced. She dwells a bit on the contradictions of the author of the Declaration having owned slaves – and repeats the historical gossip that Jefferson was the father of his slave Sally Hemings six children. It’s possible that he was – but I don’t think the matter is (or probably can be) settled conclusively. Harness does an excellent job depicting Jefferson’s child- and boyhood in colonial Virginia and the excitement he felt as a student in Williamsburg. The death of Jefferson’s wife in 1782, towards the end of the revolutionary war (and of three of his young children as well) had a profound effect on him – captured and poignantly portrayed by Harness. Jefferson departed in 1784 for Paris with one of his two surviving daughters (eight year old Polly) and a 14-year-old slave, Sally Hemings. After the ratification of the Constitution, Jefferson stayed on in Paris until 1789. Just as the French Revolution was breaking out, he returned home to serve as George Washington’s Secretary of State. He resigned at the end of Washington’s first term. In the election of 1796, he finished second to john Adams, and thus became Vice President. He and Adams differed sharply on many things, mostly and more and more about France. Adams (and his supporters in New England) were angry with the French and appalled by the excesses of the Revolution there. The expected war with France. Jefferson and his supporters felt that the United States should continue it’s alliance with France, in spite of the Revolution (even with its excesses) He expected war with England. The presidential election of 1800 saw Adams vilified as an “insane monarchist,” and Jefferson denounced as “an atheist and a revolutionary.” Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington DC. For eighteen years he had been a widower, and his housekeeping at the executive mansion was “eccentric.” His scientific bent and natural curiosity led him to champion the purchase of the Louisiana Territory and the dispatch of a “Corps of Discovery” under Lewis and Clark to explore the vast wilderness. After the conclusion of his second term in 1809, Jefferson returned to Monticello where he continued to collect books and scientific instruments. The last few years of his life he spent much time on the establishment of the University of Virginia – and in the renewed correspondence with his old friend and rival, John Adams. He and Adams both died on July 4^th 1826.

Ben Franklin is a rich subject for Harness’ palatte, from his days as a printer and continental postmaster to the Continental Congress, the Court of Louis XV in France, and the Constitutional Convention. Franklin’s warm, wry visage is evident everywhere. The text and the images communicate strongly his role as the kindly grandfather of his country.

Abe Lincoln’s life has so many colorful anecdotes that it merits two books from Cheryl Harness. The first (Young Abe Lincoln: The Frontier Days, 1809-1837) covers his childhood and life until 1837 – in the wilderness of Kentucky and Illinois, on a flatboat on the Ohio and the Mississippi, keeping store, electioneering and finally moving to Springfield to begin his law practice in 1837.

The second volume on Lincoln (Abe Lincoln goes to Washington 1837-1865) begins with his life in Springfield, one term as a US Congressman, and his eventual election in 1860 as President of the United States. It is a remarkable story with a number of vivid and striking scenes: Lincoln dancing with Mary Todd at a formal ball in 1839, Lincoln debating Douglas in 1858, Lincoln traveling by train to Washington in March of 1861 (under threat of attack by secessionists); Lincoln and his wife at the bedside of their son Willie, who died in February 1862 at the age of 12; Lincoln as he looked the day of the Gettysburg address; and finally Lincoln’s funeral train on its journey back to Illinois.

Finally, Harness has chosen a delightful subject (dee-LIGHT-ful!) in Young Teddy Roosevelt. She does an excellent job of depicting and describing his remarkable childhood and the personal handicaps (especially his struggle with asthma) that he had to overcome – as well as the personal tragedies that he faced – especially the death of his wife and mother just a few days after the birth of his first child. Teddy’s remarkable political career (New York State assemblyman, New York City Police Commissioner, United States Civil Service Commission, under-secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York) is covered as well as his exploits out west on his cattle ranch and his service with the rough riders in the Spanish American war. The book ends with his inauguration as president in the fall 1901 following the death of President McKinley. One hopes that Harness will follow this volume up with one on Teddy’s equally remarkable career as president from 1901-1909.

Any or all of the nine Harness biographies can be ordered directly from Greenleaf Press:

George Washington, by Cheryl Harness - $7.95
The Revolutionary John Adams, by Cheryl Harness - $7.95
Thomas Jefferson, by Cheryl Harness - $7.95
The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin, by Cheryl Harness - $17.95 (HB)
Young Abe Lincoln, by Cheryl Harness - $7.95
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington, by Cheryl Harness - $7.95
Young Teddy Roosevelt, by Cheryl Harness - $18.00 (HB)

Reviewed by Rob Shearer
- Publisher, Greenleaf Press
- Director, Schaeffer Study Center

Joan of Arc by Kathleen Kudlinski

DK has started a new biography series that is quite impressive. It has all the features which have distinguished DK over the years – first and foremost an impressive collection of visual images and an appealing layout rich in details. The marriage of photographic sources with narrative biography is a natural for many of the subjects in the first several dozen titles released – but there is one unusual choice – Joan of Arc. One would not expect there to be such a rich collection of images associated with her, but there are. And they make her story that much more interesting and dramatic. The house where Joan grew up has been preserved (and the photographs are fascinating). As are the contemporary portraits of the King of France and key members of his court. Joan continues to fascinate. She is a national heroine in France. Her conviction as a heretic was reversed 25 years after her death and in the 20^th century she was canonized as a Saint.

Text is targeted for ages 10 and up – the pictures make it an easy read for any age. Best of all is the affordable price: $4.99 – available directly from Greenleaf Press.

National Geographic also has a new biography series. Their “world history” biography series has an impressive top-notch selection of authors and subjects. There are three of them out in paperback so far: Hatshepsut, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Elizabeth I. Like the DK series, each is profusely illustrated with four color illustrations on every page, as well as maps, charts, and photographs of historic locations as they appear today. The text is targeted at an 8-12 year old reading level, but each biography is well-told and will inform older readers through adults. Each biography is $7.95 and is available directly from Greenleaf Press:

Hatshepsut, The Princess Who Became King, by Ellen Galford

Leonard Da Vinci, The Genius Who Defined the Renaissance by John Phillips

Elizabeth I, The Outcast Who Became England’s Queen by Simon Adams

Other titles, scheduled for release in the near future include Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Saladin, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Michelangelo, Galileo, and Isaac Newton

All of these are new for 2008. We now have over 1400 titles reviewed and available for sale on the Greenleaf web site. They’ve all been individually selected and reviewed by Rob personally. If, for any reason, you’re not satisfied with a book you’ve ordered from us, you can return it unconditionally for a full refund of the purchase price.

I’ll have some more reviews to share next week – Cheryl Harness has some great new presidential biographies out, among other new titles

• Rob Shearer
  Publisher, Greenleaf Press
  Director, Schaeffer Study Center

The New Greenleaf Press catalog is done! Yeah!

This is NOT a full catalog, listing ALL of the products we sell. We continue to add products (now over 1400!) and update the online store every week and a full printed catalog would be out of date before it could even be printed. This is, instead a summary of the history study packages, “Famous Men” books, Reformation biographies, and English for the Thoughtful Child, volumes 1 & 2 - and a few selected titles for each time period. ALL of our titles are available and in-stock.

You can download the .pdf by clicking here or on the cover image above. And you can always order online or look up complete reviews on any product we carry at the Greenleaf online store.

Hard-copy should be in the mail next week.

- Rob Shearer

I noticed a blog entry at StandFirmInFaith the other day which included the text of 20 resolutions that Cotton Mather had made as a parent as he reflected on his responsibilities towards his own children. I was surprised (though I should not have been) to find that they do not at all fit the stereotype of a stern, mirthless Puritan autocrat. In fact, as I read and re-read them they stimulated in me a desire to renew my own commitment to my own children.

On another level, they also prompted me to consider that the tender, deep, passionate commitment which Mather portrays is also a picture of God the Father’s love for each of us. These wonderful things which Mather resolves to do for his children (1. I will resolve to do all I can that my child may be the Lord’s. 2. I will encourage my child to every day cry to God that He would be the child’s Father, and Saviour, and Leader. 3. I will pray for my child daily.) are also things that God is doing for each of his children.

God reveals himself in profound and deep ways in the nature of human relationships. Father and son. ADOPTIVE father and child. Bridegroom and Bride. The best things that our fathers do for us are a reflection and a model of what God wants to do for us: provide for us, sacrifice for us, see us grow up and to acquire a godly wisdom and maturity.

I’ve laid out Mather’s Resolutions as a little 8-page booklet. It’s available for free by clicking here. Feel free to download it, forward it, print it out, or otherwise distribute it. I plan to give copies out at church on Sunday. Rev. Mather’s original text is in the public domain, and I like to think he would approve of its being read again 280 years after his death.

Here’s my summary of his 20 resolutions:

1. I will resolve to do all I can that my child may be the Lord’s.
2. I will encourage my child to every day cry to God that He would be the child’s Father, and Saviour, and Leader.
3. I will pray for my child daily.
4. I will read the Bible to my child and tell the stories of the Bible to them.
5. I will teach my child to memorize Scripture.
6. I will teach my child the Catechism.
7. I will teach my child to pray.
8. I will teach my child to be kind.
9. I will teach my child to read and write. I will direct their reading and talk with them about what they have read.
10. My yoke will be light.
11. I will teach my child to love Christ.
12. I will encourage my child to speak with me about the state of their soul.
13. I will be careful about my children’s companions.
14. I will discuss the sermons we hear with my child.
15. I will use the opportunities of Days of Humiliation, Days of Thanksgiving, and particularly birthdays to talk about the works of God.
16. I will use the opportunity of trouble, sickness or pain to remind them to be mindful of CHRIST and eternity.
17. I will teach my child a trade or business.
18. I will show my children that their main end must be to acknowledge the great God, and His glorious Christ; and bring others to acknowledge Him.
19. I will oblige the children to retire sometimes, and ponder on that question: “What shall I wish to have done, if I were now a-dying?”
20. I will endeavor to see my child espoused to the Saviour first, then I will help them as I can for their best accommodation in the married state.

Download the 8-page booklet here.

- Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Publisher, Greenleaf Press

There are very few children’s books on Napoleon. There are hundreds of thousands of books for adults but only a handful of children’s books - only three in print that I could find. Napoleon is an important historical figure, perhaps one of the two or three greatest generals in all of recorded history, in the rarefied company of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Like Alexander and Julius Caesar, although we admire their genius, there are lingering questions about their personal character and the distorting effects of their own egos and ambitions.

Napoleon, in addition to his military genius, is in many ways the father of modern France. Its system of government and laws was created by Napoleon, and has been only slightly modified since. The French still feel an affection and admiration for the “little corporal,” that, while not always shared by the rest of the world, must be grudgingly acknowledged.

Napoleon: The Story of the Little Corporal is a excellent introduction to Napoleon, perfect for middle school students as a first read, useful for high school students and adults who want to start a study of him. It is also a visually fascinating book, since it uses the contemporary (and quite famous) paintings of David, Goya, Gros, Couder and others to illustrate the historical narrative. The artwork is beautiful — the book would be worth buying for the paintings alone!

The book also makes excellent use of the writings of Napoleon himself. Indeed, the author’s note states, “I have drawn on Napoleon’s own words to anchor each section, hoping this will give readers a sense of his complex personality. He was a man of action — of that there is no doubt. but he was also a man of words — witty, insightful, and ready to comment on anything and everything — his own life most of all!”

“You tell me it is impossible. There is no such word in French.”

Napoleon became a general before he turned twenty-five and was a famous, victorious field commander before he was thirty. He became First Consul of France without having any political experience, at the age of 30, and Emperor of France at 35. Deposed and exiled to an island in the Mediterranean at age 45, he escaped, returned to France, and was restored to power. A year later, he was forced out again. He spent the last six years of his life a prisoner on an even more remote island in the south Atlantic, dying in 1821 at the age of 52.

“I love power as a musician loves his violin.”
“I am the state — I alone am here the representative of the people.”
“I am an upstart soldier.”
“There is no immortality but the memory that is left in the minds of men.”

A vote was held in France in 1800 to approve the Triumvirate, and Napoleon’s position as First Consul. The results were three million in favor, and 1,500 opposed.

Aside from the fascinating artwork, the author has done an excellent job of telling the story of Napoleon’s brilliant career in a simple straightforward fashion.

Napoleon was the most famous figure in the world for two decades. His example was invoked in the political debates of England, the USA, Italy, Germany, and beyond. His career is still hotly debated. To cite but one example: in the presidential campaign of 1800, Jefferson charged that Adams and Hamilton were planning to the use the army to seize power, following the example of Napoleon.

For all those who are interested in the events of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, this is an essential book.

Napoleon: The Story of the Little Corporal by Robert Burleigh is 48 pages, hardback, $18.95. It can be purchased directly from Greenleaf Press.

Twice a Hero: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski
Polish American Heroes of the American Revolution

There’s a Pulaski County in several states. There’s a city named Pulaski in Tennessee. Pulaski was a Polish patriot who escaped the partition of his own country in Europe and came across the ocean with letters of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. He wrote home to his friends, “If I cannot fight for freedom in my homeland, I will fight for freedom in America.” Pulaski was commissioned a general by the Continental Congress on the recommendation of Franklin and Washington and fought with Washington at Brandywine and later commanded an expedition sent south to retake the port of Savannah. Pulaski was wounded in the battle and died shortly afterwards. His story his told more fully in a ten minute DVD movie included in a flap on the inside cover of the book.

The text of the book focuses on Kosciuszko who came to America without letters of introduction from Franklin. He served as an engineer in the Continental Army and was instrumental in the colonists’ victory at Saratoga and achieved the rank of Colonel. It was the victory at Saratoga that persuaded the French to send troops with Lafayette to assist the colonists. Later, he successfully fortified the Hudson River at West Point so effectively that the British had to abandon plans to sail north and attack Albany. Kosciuszko continued his service with Washington and was present at Yorktown during the siege and surrender, playing a valuable role in laying out the American siege lines.

After the War for Independence, Kosciuszko returned to Poland where he is honored as a leader in the Polish fight for independence from Russia and Germany.

This is a remarkable book, on two figures who ought not to be overlooked. Their stories help all of us to understand that the American Revolution did not happen in a vacuum, but had an impact on contemporaries around the world.

The text is upper elementary, and the book includes a 10 minute public-television-style movie on Casimir Pulaski hosted by the author.

Twice a Hero is 32 pages, hardcover, $18.95 and may be purchased directly from Greenleaf Press.

- Rob Shearer
Director, Schaeffer Study Center
Publisher, Greenleaf Press