The Children's Book of Heroes

by William J. Bennett, Michael Hague (Illustrator)

William Bennett and Michael Hague, the team that brought us the national bestseller The Children's Book of Virtues, have once again collaborated to create The Children's Book of Heroes, a beautifully illustrated celebration of heroic deeds, both real and fictional, that will delight and inspire millions of young children and their parents.

"We all need a hero or two to help us stand fast and think right," says William J. Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues, the bestseller that millions of American families turn to for moral inspiration. With excerpts chosen for young children, this new treasury presents splendid tales of the valor and indomitable spirit that are a lasting testament to our cherished values.

Jackie Robinson stands fast on the playing field and his strength of character inspires a nation. David slays Goliath and his faith and bravery give hope to underdogs everywhere. A little boy goes in search of an angel and finds one who guards him day and night: his own mother. From Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa to warriors on the battlefield, real moms and dads, and even young girls and boys, here are worthy and heroic figures all kids can look up to and emulate.

The Children's Book of Heroes is a celebration of the endurance, sacrifice, courage, and compassion that characterize truly heroic deeds.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, History, Biography, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Education

112 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 1991

About the author

William J. "Bill" Bennett is a politician and author who served in the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, as chief of National Endowment for the Humanities and later Secretary of Education under Reagan, and Drug Czar under Bush. He is a nationally well-known figure of political and social conservatism and authored many books on politics, ethics, and international relations.

Reviews

[forthefamilyssake Hailey White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a personal favorite of my boys (ages 6 and 5). We re read it often and I never grow tired of reading aloud.

[Jean Petrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 stories from William J Bennett's compilation of 21 contemporary and ancient stories. The large size of the book 10x12 inches, along with the beautiful colorful illustrations by Michael Hague, make this a great accessible resource. The level of vocabulary is middle school. However, the stories are short, 3 to 5 pages, and easy to understand. The illustrations support the text. The first story is the hero myth of the Sphinx, adapted from a retelling by Elsie Buckley. This is the tale of the beast that guarded the seven gates of Thebes and posed riddles to those who would pass. The beast is described as a humanlike head, great wide wings, lions body, claws, and fiery eyes. It is very gory, and scary as when the victim cannot answer the riddle, he is torn limb from limb! The Sphinx would also swoop down onto the city and take victims. Only Oedipus was brave enough to challenge it, "better to try and fail than never to try at all". He seeks courage from Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and faces the monster. He doesn't let his fear overcome him, and he answers the riddle and the sphinx jumps into the abyss. He becomes king of Thebes and reigns for many years. He was willing to sacrifice himself and used his brains and heart to save his city from the monster.
The second story is about the Minotaur-the monster that lived inside the Labyrinth of King Minos . Every seven years, the black ship came to Athens to take seven young men and women to become captives to appease King Minos on Crete. Theseus vowed to fight the Minotaur. A twist in the story is the kindness and help he received from the king's daughter, Ariadne. He immediately fell in love with her and she gave him a dagger and a golden thread with magic powers to lead him out of the labyrinth. The description of the fight and ultimate beheading of the Minotaur is graphic. King Minos kept his word to release the Athenians from the curse and Theseus and Ariadne were together after that. This is a story again of impossible odds, overcome with love and selflessness.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was younger I came across a similar book to the style of this one and it was one of my favorites since it had such stories that were more like fables and/or fairy tales to me. As such when I came across this copy in a Free Library I just had to grab it for myself to find out what type of heroes can be found within the pages.

The Children's Book of Heroes starts off with a great introduction for readers in which it explores the need for everyday heroes whether fictional and real-life versus using role models who are basically just famous for being famous as being famous doesn't quite always mean they are bring good virtues and traits to the table. With that I fell in love with this book quite instant.

Furthermore the book does take quite a bit of a Christian turn so readers will not only find that they are reading about ancient Greek myths, fictional tales and biographies of famous characters but also David from the Bible. There is a focus on Mother Theresa's good works and also the story of a man who caught General Washington praying in the Valley Forge winter in the midst of the challenges while knowing the new country was going to be alright. To me these stories don't take away from the book but actually catch Americana before it has completely vanished in a time when we don't take pride in how this country was shaped.

Furthermore the book is quite patriotic although rather indirectly in most cases. There are two stories of presidents before they were presidents, the story of Jackie Robinson and the story of how to be a part of community. Again some values that we are slowly losing to the power of mass hysteria and the need to be politically correct, which is not what these stories are about such as with Honest Abe.

What really makes me enjoy this book, though, so much is the fact that William J. Bennett really did focus on bring a healthy balance of heroes. Interwoven with the biographical tales of real people and the brazenly heroic heroes of yore there are also stories that help the reader to know that parents can be heroes even when they read you to sleep or walk with you to find a showy hero, that heroes can mean you when you take a turn to be part of your community or even the teacher you may not like at first.

Along with the beautifully diverse and detailed realistic illustrations this book will be a wonderful gem to those who are looking for healthy heroes even in a world that would rather allow darkness to lead the way.

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a while ago, but it has simple stories of virtuous and courageous people that will give kids an idea of ways they can live lives with those same qualities. The pictures are vivid depictions of the events. I like how the people are different races and genders, and are from varying time frames. There's even an animal story. It's a perfect balance for understanding that anyone anywhere can be good and do good. Most recently, my family used the stories of Washington and Lincoln inside this book to aid in our Presidents Day activities. The pictures helped bring the history to life for my youngest.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It taught me as a child about Jackie Robinson, Honest Abe, Helen Keller, Mother Theresa. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and types, and show their heroism in a large number of ways, some big but most small things that lead to big things.

[Jim Winkelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

So enjoyed these stories, especially the ones of common heroes like Anne Sullivan.

[Lisa Denford]

Some stories about praying to goddesses that I wasn’t comfortable with.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this outloud to my boys. Cried at a few of the stories/poems. Had some good discussions with my boys. Wish that they hadn't included any fictional heroes though.

[Nicole Bieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great in audio.

[Becca Tillotson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection and an excellent young children's readaloud resource. We used it in our improvised Ambleside Online-esque kindergarten curriculum.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book and its illustrations when I was young. I'd like to read it to my sons.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly familiar stories, but not all.
Well told
I’m so glad I took the time to listen to this book. Great role models.

[Erin M · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are little gems for children. I actually think they could have found even more short stories with excellent messages about real heroes...But it is a good book and both of my boys have enjoyed them. Both boys read them in 2nd Grade as they are on their school's required reading list for 2nd Grade. I've read 100s of books to my boys over the years and there are some really, really dumb children's books and some really great children's books...I wish there were more like this one.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been surprised by how much my son enjoys looking at William Bennett's "Children's Book of.." series on his own. He is really captivated by these stories, and I don't blame him. They are engaging and exciting, and they communicate important moral truths without feeling didactic.

[Jeniann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of inspirational stories for children

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with lots of great stories from modern heroes to hereos from the time of the Greeks. My boys loves the story of "Theseus and the Minatour."

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

We still read this one together!

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine book collection of stories that inspire children (and other readers) with courage and fortitude.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short stories. We read through out our CC curr...krb 12/30/16

[towner77 · Rating 4 out of 5]

More great Bedtime Stories curated by the former Secretary of Education.

[Jakerah]

1. n/a
2. 1st-2nd grade
3. This has both facts and fiction that depict real events from history. This book contains poems and stories with realistic illustrations that make you feel like you're apart of the book.
4. I think anyone who reads this book will enjoy the variety and fun facts. I think this is a great book to motivate children to be and do great things. Also a great way to appropriately push children to read text other than literary.
5. Students can also utilize this book by drawing the people or a person in their life who they consider a hero. Th teacher can create a bulletin board where the students can freely post one or two good deeds they've done throughout the day, week, month etc.