Book Review – Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents by Irene Howat

Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents

Ten Boys Who Used Their Talents by Irene Howat

Synopsis:

Lightkeepers; The internationally best-selling series from an award-winning biographer J S Bach; Paul Brand; John Bunyan; James Clerk Maxwell; Wilfred Grenfell; C.S. Lewis; Samuel Morse; Ghillean Prance; C.T. Studd; George Washington-Carver; What can you do for God? These ten boys grew up to become successful men. The two things they have in common is that they all put to good use the talents and gifts they had, and they all believed that God had given them to be used. Paul Brand took medicine into new lands to bring hope to the sick, Ghillean Prance’s love of the world around him led to Kew Gardens, still a centre of excellence in studying God’s creation, C S Lewis opened the door into Narnia and opened the hearts of many to new faith; C T Studd excelled on the cricket and the mission field; Wilfred Grenfell was an energetic explorer of the Arctic; J S Bach’s music still inspires millions, as Christ inspired him; James Clerk Maxwell’s faith in God’s ordering of the universe led to key discoveries in science; Samuel Morse patented many inventions one of which has saved many lives; George Washington governed a country as he followed the Lord; John Bunyan was imprisoned to shut him up yet wrote a classic that still speaks today.(Taken from Goodreads page)

Review

This is the first of the series of ten (five involving boys and five involving girls). Geared towards elementary school age and homeschool learning, I think the whole series is going to be delightful.

In this volume, ten boys which include Paul Brand, Ghillean Prance, C.S. Lewis, C.T. Studd, Wilfred Grenfell, J.S. Bach, James Clerk Maxwell, Samuel Morse, George Washington Carver, and John Bunyan follow a similar story pattern of about 15 pages each. The sections start off with a childhood and family setting and move to either some early important events or through to teenage and college-age and then into adulthood of what they’re known for. The stories include mostly fictional conversations so as to give young readers more than just facts to remember. The conversations are in the spirit of learning about the person. Each person also has a focus on their Christian faith and it usually inspires the conclusion of the story as a way to glorify God. At the end, there is a “FACT” of the story expanded upon, a “KEYNOTE” that focuses on the aspect of the story to think about God, a “THINK” area in which a challenge question is presented for discussion, and a “PRAYER” section.

As the title suggests, the concentration is on each person’s talent that leads them to something they are famous for and how God used those talents to bless others. This could be in a scientific field, the arts, missionary & ministry, or invention. The stories are long enough to create a story arch but not so long that someone interested in another story couldn’t move along. For the adults, we sometimes have trouble discovering new topics to study and something like this could give one ideas of someone to read about or a time period or subject matter. The only thing I wish the book would do is maybe suggest a few expanded reading books but that’s easy enough to do on one’s own these days. One of my other favorite areas of this book is that it does not glance over or ignore death, hardships, or troubles. The more I teach my children about their learning, other people’s lives, and even my own life as an example I find focusing on the failures; as well as the triumphs; are just as important to give to learn and grow.

I would highly recommend this book and the series (assuming they are all similar).

Final Grade