Two years after Catherine Parks delighted our family with her biography anthologies, we’ve hit a dry spell. It seems that for my upper elementary kids, it’s hard to find biography read-alouds that hit the “sweet spot.” Classics like Ann Franke’s Diary of a Young Girl, while deeply worthwhile, are too weighty to delve into piecemeal between bites of Rice Krispies. On the flip side, more popular illustrated biographies for kids are too cartoonish, lacking substance. After years of reading a biography together every morning, we’d drifted on to other offerings.
For this reason, I was delighted to discover Jared Kennedy’s new children’s biography of Martin Luther: The Story of Martin Luther: The Monk Who Changed the World. I’d hoped that Kennedy, an editor at TGC and a seasoned author of children’s books, would offer up a retelling of Luther’s life that was both rich and engaging. He didn’t disappoint. The Story of Martin Luther is a breath of fresh air, filling a much-needed void in the genre of biography for middle graders.
Kennedy’s storytelling skills are on display in this book from the first chapter. Rather than a dry, brittle blow-by-blow recounting of the Reformation, Kennedy draws us into the drama and conflict of the monk whose conviction of sin led first to his discovery of God’s grace in Christ, and then to his challenge of the most powerful institution in Europe. Through his skillful and vivid writing, Kennedy invites kids to wrestle along with Luther, to struggle beside him, and to rejoice with him. His writing style is engaging and approachable, but never simple, boring, or condescending.
Even as Kennedy captivates readers with his storytelling, he dives headlong into deep theological territory. This is an author who respects middle-grade readers’ abilities to grasp and digest big concepts. His rich theological exploration sets The Story of Martin Luther apart from others of its type, which seem pale shadows in comparison. Readers of this book won’t just close the cover with a newfound ability to recite facts about Martin Luther’s life. Instead, they’ll understand the why’s of Luther’s journey, the big ideas for which Luther mined Scripture, for which he risked everything, and which ultimately catalyzed the Reformation. Kennedy’s framing of these ideas within the context of Luther’s life will help cement understanding and comprehension, helping to illuminate for kids abstract ideas they might otherwise misunderstand.
I’m delighted to include The Story of Martin Luther in our morning read-aloud routine, and could not recommend it more highly to families. This book is part of a series of biographies in the works at Crossway; after reading this, I’m eager to see more installments!
When not writing, she loves adventuring through books with her kids, wandering through the mountains, and chasing dragons out of her kitchen.
- Review: The Story of Martin Luther - February 24, 2025
- Writing for His Glory: Praise and Lamentation - June 10, 2024
- Writer, Treat Your Words as Offerings - April 22, 2024
Leave a Reply