Corrie ten Boom: The Courageous Woman and the Secret Room - During World War II, Corrie had built a secret room to hide as many Jewish people as possible from the German soldiers. But then Corrie herself was caught and sent to a horrible, scary prison camp…Discover what happened next in this inspiring true story. Includes notes for parents, a photograph of Corrie, and a timeline of her life.

“You are my hiding place and my shield,” Psalm 119:114

Joni Eareckson Tada: The Girl Who Learned to Follow God in a Wheelchair - Joni loved riding horses and going swimming. But one day, she dived into the water…hit her head on the bottom…and couldn’t move. Discover how Joni learned to live a very different kind of life, and how she came to understand that God was caring for her even though she had to use a wheelchair. And be inspired by how she has used her life to love Jesus, and to help others whose bodies don’t work as well as they’d like. This amazing kids book includes a timeline of Joni’s life, questions to think about, and a photograph of Joni.

“In all things God works for the good of those who love Him,” Romans 8:28

Susannah Spurgeon: The Pastor’s Wife Who Didn’t Let Sickness Stop Her - Susannah was married to a very busy and gifted pastor, Charles Spurgeon. Though she longed to help in his work, she was often so unwell that she had to stay in bed. But she didn’t let that stop her! Discover how Susannah found ways to help Charles, look after her twin boys, and even create a Book Fund that sent out over 200,000 free books to pastors who were too poor to buy them. In this book, you find a photograph of Susannah, a timeline of her life, and a map showing where she lived.

“My times are in your hand,” Psalm 31:15

My Thoughts: For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved inspiring stories like these. From a young age, I had heard about Corrie ten Boom through Focus on the Family’s audio drama titled The Hiding Place. Through the great voice-acting and amazing sound effects, Corrie ten Boom’s life story truly came to life for me. And thanks to that audio drama, I will never be able to hear the hymn, Rock of Ages, the same way again. When I found this kid’s book online about Corrie’s life, I knew I had to get it for our library.

Now, to be honest, I didn’t know much about Joni Eareckson Tada until I read this children’s book by Kristyn Getty. I mean, I knew that she was a famed Christian speaker in a wheelchair; but I’m ashamed to say that I never made the effort to read about her testimony before. When we got Joni Eareckson Tada: The Girl Who Learned to Follow God in a Wheelchair in the mail, I was brought to tears as I read about her accident and how she continued to praise God through it all. But the thing that really got me was at the end when it says that when Joni gets her new legs in heaven, the first thing she’s going to do is kneel before the Lord and praise Him.

When I was searching for more books from this series, I stumbled upon the one about Susannah Spurgeon. I honestly have no idea why this one, out of all the rest, caught my eye. Why didn’t I click on Fanny Crosby, or even Amy Carmichael’s biography? Was it because I didn’t realize that the infamous Charles Spurgeon had a wife? I don’t know. But what I do know is that once I read the synopsis for this children’s biography, I wanted to know more about this amazing woman. As a book enthusiast, I nearly jumped out of my seat with excitement when I found out about Susannah’s book fund. I loved how she saw the need pastors had for reading material and took the initiative to get those books to them(all while being sick at home). This one particularly inspired me, because the Cross Reference Library lends out free books to pastors and community members as well.

I think every parent should check these books out for their kids. They’re well written, the illustrations are quite good, and I can’t forget the interactive downloads found in the back of these awesome books. Through these free resources, your kids or grandkids can think about what they learned through these stories and how they were impacted by these amazing women. I hope that through reading these books with your kids or grandkids, that you’ll be as inspired by their stories as I was.