Books for Christian Girls: "100 Extraordinary Stories for Courageous Girls" by Jean Fischer

About this book:

“Girls are world-changers! And this deeply inspiring storybook proves it!

Just for the girls in your life, ages 8 and up, this collection of 100 extraordinary stories of women of faith--from the Bible, history, and today--will empower them to know and understand how women have made a difference in the world and how much smaller our faith (and the biblical record) would be without them. Featuring full-page, colorful illustrations alongside the true stories of amazing women like Lydia, Naomi, Rahab, Rebekah, Jane Austen, Corrie ten Boom, Bethany Hamilton, Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, and dozens more, the stories of these 100 women will encourage and inspire girls to become the world-changers God created them to be!”

Series: As of now, no.

Spiritual Content- Not only are women from the Bible (Abigail, Deborah, Esther, Eve, Lydia, Ruth, Sarah, and many others) discussed in this book, but also influential Christian women like Gladys Aylward, Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Elliot, Bethany Hamilton-Dirks, Corrie ten Boom, Harriet Tubman, and many more) along with missionaries and martyrs are discussed; Each women from the Bible has the references of where to find her in the Bible; Each courageous women in this book has on one page about her, how her faith was shown, a couple discussion questions, a Scripture correlating, & the page next to it has a painting-like picture; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; All about God & these amazing women’s faiths; Many mentions of witnessing, missionaries, & the mission field; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & Bible studies; Mentions of churches, ministers/pastors, & Sunday school; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of sins; Mentions of hymns & those who wrote them; Mentions of convents, nuns, & saints; Mentions of when kings and such ruled that everyone should be Catholic, those who disagreed, & when Catholics and Protestants disagreed so much that some were murdered; A few mentions of miracles;

*Note: In the page about Catherine Booth (co-founder of the Salvation Army), it is said that she felt God calling her to preach, her minister husband had no objections, and they both preached in her husband’s church; In the page about Anne Dutton, it starts mentioning that today may women serve God in many ways including being a (female) pastor and that there are many female pastors today; In the page about Sojourner Truth, it is said she become a traveling preacher & preached the truth from God’s Word; In the page of Elisabeth Dirks, it’s mentioned that the Catholic church was thought to be the only true church and some pulled away because they didn’t agree with all of the teachings (Elisabeth studied the Bible, agreed with those who pulled away, and ran away from the convent she was at); Mentions of evil people & things; Mentions of false gods and idols; A few mentions of demons; Mentions of superstitions (including twins being left to die for the belief that one is possessed); A few mentions of Muslims (one of the women in this book was raised in a Muslim family and her parents wanted her to marry a Muslim man); A few mentions of Buddhists (one of the women in this was raised with a Buddhist father and later becomes disowned when she becomes a Christian).

Negative Content- One woman (Betty Olsen) is said to have been held hostage, starved, beaten, and later poisoned and died (no true details, but it is bluntly put, around barely-above-not-detailed); One of the women (Anna Askew) in this book is said to have been tortured and killed (that is all that is said, no details); Another woman (Saint Blandina) is tortured and killed by wild animals (it’s said that she was killed by a wild boar, but that all that is said on the details of her death); Two others (Elisabeth Dirks & Margaret Wilson) are said to have been drowned; Another (Marion Harvey) was sentenced to die by hanging; Another (Perpetua) was executed; Another (Ether John/Qumar Zia) was found dead (murdered) in her room; Another (Betty Stam) and her husband were kidnapped & murdered; Another (Judith Weinberg) is said to have been killed for being a Christian; Another (Helen Roseveare) was robbed, beaten, & shamed; Bethany Hamilton-Dirks’ story is discussed about the shark attack (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of persecution (deaths/murders, executions/drownings, torture, attacks, beatings, robberies, arrests, etc. are mentioned but not expounded on) faced by these different Christian women & the hatred for Christians; Mentions of wars, slavery, fighting, & illnesses (no details); Mentions of drug, drug addicts, & gangs; Mentions of prisons; Mentions of bullying & bullies; A few mentions of a king who put people to death (no details); A few mentions of concentration camps & torture/deaths there; A few mentions of orders of executions; A mention of Elisabeth Elliot’s husband and other missionary friends who were murdered (the only part that is mentioned is that it was by a spear, no details other than that); A mention of a raid & kidnapping of a young girl in the Bible;

*Note: An indirect mention of a lie being blessed by God (Shiphrah and Puah, midwives in the Bible, lie that the baby boys were already born when questioned about letting the infants live, and the next paragraph starts with saying that God blessed both women for obeying Him).

Sexual Content- In Mary, Mother of Jesus’ page, it says that Mary and Joseph made a promise to each other that they wouldn’t have a baby until after they were married & that until then they would live like brother and sister (it’s also said that God’s Spirit mysteriously put the baby inside Mary); A couple mentions of arranged marriages;

*Note: A few of the illustrations have low-cut dresses, but nothing is accentuated; A mention of that men in the Bible often had more than one wife.

Written in a bedtime story/devotional format
208 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

After hearing about the secular book about “brave women” on the market that includes no women of Christian faith (published by a secular publisher), to say that I was a bit mad is an understatement. I am so thrilled that Shiloh Kidz/Barbour Publishing has created a better book with the stories of Biblical women, martyrs, and women still live today who are living for Jesus. [Please note the cover and title on this book reviewed and please do not get it confused with the secular one that does not have BFCG’s approval.]

Even though I am personally above the target age of middle grade readers for this book, I found myself taking the time to read the page about each woman and then look up more about her if I wasn’t familiar already. I do wish that Katie Davis-Majors was in this book, but other than that, there were many great women mentioned. This book is a fantastic alternative to another book in the secular market and I definitely would recommend mother and grandmothers entertaining the thought of getting this book of their girls over age ten.

Parents please note:

*This book does have stories of martyrs in it, and while it never is detailed in how it happens, there might should be caution for reading it at night to young girls with overactive imagination in case of nightmares. Instead, choosing a different woman’s story to read at night or reading the martyrs’ stories during the day and discussing it might be an idea.

*There is some assuming on the Biblical women (like with Lois one is only mentioned once in the Bible) in this book. Homeschool parents could expand on the overall story or add about these women to their curriculum when studying the chapters of the Bible the women are mentioned in.

*In Rosa Parks' section, a faith is not mentioned but it is ended with, “God created us to be equal. We are all the same in His sight, and that is how He wants us to treat each other.”

*There is a total of three women in this book who are said to have preached and/or are called female pastors/preachers.

See y’all on Monday with a new review!