Christopher Columbus: Adventurer of Faith and Courage

The Sowers

by Bennie Rhodes

Risking shipwreck and failure, he sought to spread the gospel by discovering new lands.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, School, Christian

146 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not a book to go to for historical reliability as it is written in the first-person. It's probably written for a middle-school level audience and the historical facts are limited. While I do agree that Columbus is not respected today for discovering America, this book glosses over the atrocities that he committed to the Native Americans. Columbus is not accurately portrayed in this book like most. He was a Christian, but Christians still sin, so I don't like that Rhodes just neglected to mentoin any of his faults. I do highly admire Columbus' courage and faith in Jesus though. He trusted God a lot which is evidenced by the tremendous amounts of courage he had just to embark on a seemingly voyage that would lead to death. I'm excited to learn more about Columbus, and this book made me aware that I have almost no knowledge of him.

[F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in a first person narrative though it is not really an autobiography. It makes it readable but I constantly question accuracy.
I must say- Columbus didn't NOT have an easy go of it even after he became famous as the Admiral of the Oceans.


A weak spot for me was the ambiguity of the churches and missionaries mentioned herein. I assume they were Roman Catholic though that is never stated in the book. Were they trying to give the book a more universal appeal or did they not know? If they did not know then perhaps a little more research was called for. If they did know then perhaps a little more openness was called for.

[Clarissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another foundation book for our Columbus unit. This one definitely went into more detail. For being a biography, the pace stayed pretty constant and engaging. My older son was the reader for this one, and he managed to enjoy it, so that’s a recommendation in and of itself.

[Tracy Reed]

This was a read-aloud with my fourth grader and first grader.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is Spain, Portugal, the Atlantic Ocean, and America. In 1492 Christopher discovered a land. If he hadn't wanted to be a sailor when he grew up, we would be living in Europe! His brother, Bartholomew, made his maps! My favorite part was when Christopher discovered Jamaica. He saw the longest dug out canoes he'd ever seen. Some were 90 feet long!!

[Marren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the tale. The author made up for some of the areas that little is known about Columbus. The focus on Columbus life as a missioner is interesting. His title as an explorer is usually the main focus of many books, it was good hearing both missioner and explorer title sharing the main focus. I am more intrigue to read and learn more about Columbus from as a missionary.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this with my son. He loves Christopher Columbus now and wants to study about him constantly. It was a great book that shows the inspiration in the founding of America.

[Nicole M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of our homeschool curriculum.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great "first person" account of the Christ-bearer's life. Great for my fifth grader, but very simple.

[Miles Pack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because Columbus was an explorers. I like learning about explorers.