What do you think of when you hear the term role model? It can mean so many things, but in today’s culture, it is often a celebrity. It might be a famous singer, a star athlete, or even a movie star. Children and teens look up to them and often try to emulate them. Sometimes that is not bad, but too often their behavior and attitudes are not something we want our children to emulate.
If we don’t want our children to look to pop culture stars as role models, we need to make sure we teach them about true role models. As you learn in Eric’s Greatest Race from Timberdoodle, Eric Liddell is a great example of someone who makes an excellent role model.
What is Eric’s Greatest Race?
While we are blessed with many great role models in our personal lives, I also want to intentionally introduce my children to other role models. Biographies are a great way to introduce children to great role models, past and present.
Eric’s Great Race is one such biography. It is a graphic novel with well-done black-and-white illustrations throughout, with the words written in a “comic book” style alongside the illustrations.
Written by Tim Challies and illustrated by Paul Mignard, this graphic novel tells the true story of the great missionary Eric Liddell.
Eric’s Greatest Race is just over 100 pages long, but due to the amount of illustrations and style of writing it is a fairly quick read.
Who Was Eric Liddell?
While he was a famous athlete who won medals at the Olympics, he was, more importantly, a Christian who dedicated his life to serving Jesus. He even refused to run a n Olympic race that he was expected to win because it was held on a Sunday.
Eric spent time preaching and serving as a missionary alongside his parents and later his wife. He served in China for many years, teaching in a school and sharing the love of Jesus.
During World War II as things became more dangerous, his wife and children went back to Canada, but Eric stayed. The Japanese put him in a compound with other foreigners, and he continued to minister there. Unfortunately, he had a stroke and died there at the compound far away from his wife and children.
Who Would Enjoy Eric’s Greatest Race?
This book is great for a variety of audiences. The graphic novel style makes it great for reluctant readers, but even my prolific reader enjoyed it. I had my twelve-year-old read it, and he thoroughly enjoyed it and said he would recommend it for all ages.
For younger students, it would make a great read-aloud, going deeper than a typical picture book while still using illustrations to keep them interested.
This book shares the life and sacrifices of a great missionary and role model and encourages readers to live a life focused on Christ and what He has called us to do.
You can find out more and get your copy of Eric’s Greatest Race at Timberdoodle.
