William Wilberforce: God's Politician

by John Holzmann

This book is meant to introduce fourth grade students to a man who made a profound difference in British-and, actually, world-history.

Genres: Biography, History, Childrens, Nonfiction, School, American History

86 pages

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

John^Holzmann

Reviews

[Rebecca Inwards]

Wonderful story about a great man, but the writing style detracts from the story.

[Darlene]

I read this non-fiction biography to my children.

Before I read this book, I had never heard of William Wilberforce. He was born in England in 1759, and what he was best known for was his steadfast resolve in trying to abolish slavery. He presented 11 different Bills to Parliament over the course of 18 years in an effort to limit or abolish the slave trade. He finally met with success with his 12th Bill in 1807 with the enactment of the Slave Trade Act.

This book provides a good overview of how the British parliamentary system works. Even though the content is pretty dry, we still found it interesting. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions, which enhanced our understanding of the content.

[Sticky Note Book Recs Melissa]

I really enjoyed finding out more about William Wilberforce. I think many of his character qualities are something I would want to strive for in my own life. What an inspiration and a hero!

[Jenifer]

Read this in our homeschool. The book says it is for 4th grade level, but I think it is probably better suited for middle school. There are some pretty big ideas that my 5th graders had trouble wrapping their heads around. Overall, the book is good and they did get to most important points.

[Lisa]

Biography for young children about William Wilberforce, the famous British MP who helped bring about the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807.

[Julisa]

Written for fourth graders so not high-brow, but a good introduction to a remarkable man.

[R.]

Good for all ages. However with ten and under I'd suggest skipping one page.

[°❀.ೃ࿔* Saga ⋆｡‧˚ʚ 🍪 ɞ˚‧｡⋆ Author in Training]

An amazing book! I recommend this book for home school

[Erin Hendrian]

This was one of the most memorable books from my homeschool days, and the story of William Wilberforce made a huge impact on me as a 4th grader. The way Wilberforce humbly, faithfully, and persistently used his gifts for God’s glory despite so many setbacks and poor health, but ran the race set before him with hope and faith is such a great story, particularly for young people maybe just beginning to be aware of a bigger world beyond them and wondering how God might use their own life in His greater story. Reading this again to my own kids this year was just as inspiring, and I loved getting to see it engage their hearts and minds. This book is a fairly simple introduction to William Wilberforce, easy enough for 4th or 5th graders to follow with a little more explanation here or there, but a great place to begin. I’ve heard great things about Eric Metaxas’ book about William Wilberforce and am hoping to listen to the audiobook soon since this book jogged my memory on the topic.

[Troye Hall]

If I could give this book 3.5 stars, I would. We didn't dislike this book at all. As a part of the history curriculum it was very informative as well as inspiring. It definitely reads like a textbook, as I believe is the intent. I do recommend reading ahead of the child to be able to summarize certain parts, because there were times that I realized that The Boy didn't understand what was going on, much less grasp the significance of the events. I am ordering the film Amazing Grace through netflix to see if it is appropriate for him to watch. I saw it years ago, but I can't remember if it will be too graphic for a 4th grader or not.

[Evelyn]

A great (and the only that I am aware of) children's biography on William Wilberforce, my favorite hisotrical person! A well-written and thorough introduction for elementary age of a wonderful man who had a huge impact on the world. Sad that he's not very well-known anymore. My kids loved this book. Published by Sonlight.

For adults, I highly recommend Eric Metexas' biography Amazing Grace. There is also a movie of the same name that is excellent, though simplified, and mostly historically accurate.

[Tara]

The kids and I enjoyed this book. What an amazing man of integrity! This book is part of an appropriately named series called "World Changers." Written for homeschoolers, it has comprehension questions after each chapter. We had a lot of great discussions reading this book, and the kids picked up yet another book-ism that has become an inside joke that almost nobody else would understand. "There's nothin' in the world ta eat!" So if you hear my kids say that, this book is where they got it.

[Cami]

Okay, so someone who knows how much I love & admire William Wilberforce gave me this book. The book was originally written for fourth graders, but I did find it to be a great concise biography about Wilberforce. Someday I will read another biography about him that is closer to my reading level ;)

[Heather Neroy]

4th grade homeschool history read aloud. I felt the text was quite dry & the questions extremely advanced, even for my G&T 4th grader but the story & life of Wilberforce is inspiring & fascinating & we loved learning about him.

[Lisa]

I read this to my kids for school. Although William Wilberforce was a very inspirational man, the book was dry and uninteresting. It read like a textbook, which might have been the intent.

[Jeff]

Good concise biography on a great man, written on a fourth grade level.

[Catherine]

Fascinating story, but this book is very dry.

[Leah Colbeck]

We read the 'secularized' version - William Wilberforce Britain's Great Emancipator. Enjoyed learning about part of the history of abolition in England and about the life of William.

[Becky]

Read aloud to my kids for history. I love the story of wilberforce but this book was so dry.

[Jenelle]

Nice little bite-sized biography. This is a very informative glimpse at the life of a man in history that I had not really known much about before reading this book.

[Rebecca]

A lot of great information about William Wilberforce and his humanitarian work as a member of British Parliament.

[Amy]

Wonderful read.

[Bryan Spahr]

read for school in 4th grade

[Tammy]

Blah. Sawdust dry. Yuck!