Fanny Crosby

The Girl Who Couldn't See But Helped The World To Sing

By Laura Wickham, illustrated by Jess Rose
from 11 reviews

Inspiring children's biography of Fanny Crosby, one of the world’s most famous hymn writers.

Part of the Do Great Things For God series.

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Description

Read the true story of one of the world’s most famous hymn writers. Frances—or Fanny, as everyone called her—was blind for most of her life but rejoiced that the first thing her eyes would see would be "the face of Jesus in heaven.” Fanny used her extraordinary musical ability to write hymns we still sing today, such as "To God Be the Glory" and "Blessed Assurance".

This beautifully illustrated children's biography of Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) is part of a series designed to show kids that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

These stories can be read to young children or enjoyed independently by early readers.

Download free extras, such as worksheets, to help children interact with the true story and think of ways in which they can also follow God and encourage his people today.

The free extras make these stories useful for , Sunday School, missions events, and more.

Product details

Contents

  • Fanny Crosby: Illustrated Biography
    Further notes about Fanny for adults and older children

Specification

Age range: 4+
Contributors Laura Wickham, Jess Rose
ISBN 9781784987473
Format Hardback
First published September 2022
Dimensions 195mm x 240mm x 7.2mm
Weight 0.25 kg
Language English
Pages 24
Publisher The Good Book Company
Endorsements

Keith Getty

Hymnwriter; founder of Getty Music; author of Sing!

I am so excited about this book! Our singing of the Lord shapes who we are more than we often know, and Fanny Crosby’s deep joy dances towards each new generation through the song of her writing and the song of her life. Her voice helped me find mine.

Customer reviews


Sep 29, 2023

“Love this book!”

I have to share how sweet this one is about Fanny Crosby. Fanny was blind, but so gifted musically. She wrote many beautiful hymns that we still sing today, including "Blessed Assurance" and
"To God be the Glory." This book teaches about her faith and how she used her incredible talents to bring glory to God! Fanny was determined and intelligent and refused to be bitter about being blind. She looked forward to the first face she would see being that of her Savior upon entering heaven! Fanny sometimes wrote 6-7 hymns a day, resulting in thousands of hymns over the course of her life. This book is a great introduction to this prolific hymn writer and woman of faith!
I just love how these books introduce my girls to women of faith at their level. They are engaging and gentle even when talking about hard topics.


Mar 9, 2023

“Seeing Christ More Lovely”

I adore the Do Great Things for God series so much. These biographies are so helpful to introduce your children to inspiring Christians and the lessons we can glean from their faithfulness.

Fanny Crosby was blind, but definitely had spiritual sight and hope in Christ. This book sweetly highlights her physical disability and how that grew her love for sound and music which inspired her to write many great hymns. This is a great book to read for discipleship time with your children and follow with a hymn written by Fanny Crosby.

If you do not own any other books in the series, I suggest grabbing them all.


Mar 3, 2023

“Inspiration for Readers of All Ages”

Fanny Crosby: The Girl Who Couldn’t See But Helped the World to Sing is a lovely volume in the Do Great Things for God series by The Good Book Company. This book takes young readers through the events of Fanny’s life. Being born blind, Fanny eagerly anticipated the moment when she would first see Jesus. As a young girl, Fanny memorized eight books of the Bible and began writing songs about God after a dream she had one night.

She is probably most well known for writing the famous hymn, Blessed Assurance. Although this retelling of Fanny’s life is for young readers, I found myself inspired by her story. I love that this series focuses on Christian women and how they lived ordinarily faithful lives. I hope that by reading the books in this series, including Fanny Crosby, my daughters will consider how they might be useful to God’s kingdom. We really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books in this series!

I received Fanny Crosby compliments of The Good Book Company in exchange for my honest review.


Dec 12, 2022

“What a testimony of faith!”

Fanny Crosby

This sweetly written book is a lovely addition to the “Do Great Things for God” series. It shares the story of Fanny Crosby, who was blind, but didn’t count that as something bad. Her focus was that the first thing she’d see is Jesus face-to-face. What an incredible testimony of faith! Fanny took her love of Jesus and wrote some of the most beautiful hymns including a personal favorite, Blessed Assurance.

This book, like the rest of the series, has beautiful illustrations, a timeline, and a real photo of the person at the end of the book. We love this series to teach our children history and faith. A wonderful addition to any home library!


Nov 2, 2022

“Sweetly Written Biography”

Fanny Crosby had been one of those people I’ve heard about since childhood. And for good reason! Her positive, faith-filled life is one we should all emulate. I appreciate these biographies of Christians that I can share with my kids!

(I received a complimentary copy from GBC for the purpose of a review, but this review is all my own.)


Oct 25, 2022

“Inspiring Biography”

This delightful new installment in the Do Great Things for God series features Fanny Crosby, a famous blind writer who wrote thousands of hymns during her lifetime. I remember learning about Crosby's story as a child, but I believe that I learned about it verbally from my mother, not from a book. This picture book biography is a wonderful introduction for today's children, with simple text from Laura Caputo-Wickham and charming, colorful illustrations from Jess Rose. The book acknowledges the many struggles that Crosby faced while celebrating her enduring faith in God, her educational achievements, and her immense talent.

At the end, the book includes a timeline and a historic black and white photograph of Crosby. I think it would have been helpful, however, if the author had included a note to explain that the reason why she isn't smiling in the photo is because early camera technology required people to sit still for long periods of time. Her grim appearance in the photo could be startling to some young children, especially since they can't see her eyes behind her dark glasses.

I would highly recommend this book to families, churches, and Christian schools. It shares great historical information and is very inspirational, and it would pair especially well with singing some of Crosby's best-remembered hymns. I have been very impressed with this picture book biography series, and I appreciate the care and attention that the author puts into summarizing each woman's life in a kid-friendly way while still giving a deep sense of what they experienced and accomplished. I looked forward to this biography because I admired Fanny Crosby so much as a child, and it is truly lovely.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


Oct 4, 2022

“A Must-Have Biography for Your Children”

I’ve tried to write songs. I’ve tried to write lyrics to go with tunes already written. Even though I can write poems with rhyming words, I can’t write songs.

It’s very frustrating to me.

God gave Fanny Crosby a real gift. The gift of expressing thoughts and making them into lyrics. I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that Fanny wrote about 9,000 songs. That’s a lot of songs.

Did her blindness help her to focus on God and dive deeper into who He is, what He has done for us, and what He is doing for us?

Would Fanny have written about God if she hadn’t been blind?

We will never know this side of heaven, but I’m sure glad she did.

Not only does this biography teach young people about Fanny Crosby’s talent for writing music, but it also emphasizes Fanny’s spiritual character as well.

Reading Fanny’s story to children opens up a wealth of opportunities to discuss blindness, hymns, loving God, and how God can use bad things that happen in our lives for His good.

I would highly recommend this book to any parent that wants to introduce their children to godly workers and servants of Christ, plus this book would be perfect in any preschool nursery, Sunday school or children’s church classroom.

The illustrations are colorful and capture your attention. They go well with the story and are enjoyable to look at.

A big thank you to The Good Book company for allowing me to review this wonderful book.


Sep 29, 2022

“wonderful”

I have been loving this series. It provides the life story of some incredible Christian women who made brave decisions for the Gospel.

I had the privilege to read a few of the other books in the series and since we thoroughly enjoyed them, we had the same expectation of this newest release.

The book details Fanny Crosby's life from infancy to death, focusing on her deliberate choice to follow God's calling rather than succumb to her human disability. It's fascinating, even as an adult, to learn that Crosby was the author of so many of our beloved hymns. Children of all ages would enjoy this story but it is written specifically for children between the ages of four to eight.

The illustrations are beautiful, delightful and captivating. The details are are wonderful.

I appreciate that author Laura Caputo-Wickham concluded the book with a life timeline of Crosby's important happenings. This was a fun summary of her writings completed for God.

I received a copy of this book from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review.


Sep 28, 2022

“A Beloved Series In Our Home!”

Parents and caregivers with girls - please add this beautiful new release to your collection! I absolutely adore the Do Great Things for God series. This is a wonderful starter biography set for young children featuring women of faith!

We love the Betty Greene and Gladys Aylward books from this series, reading them at least once a week, sometimes more. So when Fanny Crosby became available, I was excited to add her story to our collection. These stories inspire both boys and girls alike with women who simply stepped out in faith and followed God’s call for their lives, becoming incredible influences for the Gospel and pillars of the Christian faith.

Fanny Crosby was an incredible woman whose hymns are still beloved favorites of many generations. This book tells the story of her life and offers children a look into how she became a hymn writer. It is inspiring, sweet and offers beautiful illustrations. It shows children how much Fanny loved Jesus and never allowed her blindness to hinder her or steal her joy. I love that this storybook is easy for my 4 year old to understand and also encourages her to pursue a life after Jesus and allow Him to use her in big and mighty ways, just like He did for Fanny Crosby. Hands down, a must have for a little girl’s library and very useful for homeschooling families and school/church libraries too!

* I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.


Aug 22, 2022

“Excellent Children's Biography”

The Do Great Things for God series is a great set of books, and we recently ordered a set of the Elizabeth II books to give away for our Jubilee services. This newest book in the series about Fanny Crosby is a lovely addition to the series, briefly telling the story of her life as she wrote songs that continued to be loved by many. The whole book points towards her unwavering hope in Jesus. I also appreciate that not only do you get the simple story but also a timeline with more detail at the end of the book. A lovely gift for a younger child to learn more about an inspirational Christian.

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Fanny Crosby | Laura Wickham, Jess Rose |
$19.99