...In all my writings I have always tried — how far successfully I know not — to advance the cause of Truth and Right and to induce my readers to put their trust in the love of God our Saviour, for this life as well as the life to come. —R.M. Ballantyne, from Personal Reminiscences in Book-Making
Never Heard of Happy Ballantyne’s Day?
R.M. Ballantyne
(1825-1894) |
Well, this is our way of remembering the rip-roaringest, globe-trekkingest, Christian boys adventure writer of the 19th century.
Born April 24, 1825, he was perhaps the most influential writer of boys’ literature from his generation. He was also a devout Christian of the Scottish Covenanter kind, and a first class adventurer whose sturdy prose earned him the moniker “Ballantyne the Brave” from none other than Robert Louis Stevenson.
- Click here to read descriptions of each book in the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library
- Looking for the Elsie Dinsmore Library? Click Here.
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| $220.00 |
| Save $220.00 (50%) |
| Regular Price $440.00 |
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His name was R.M. Ballantyne, and his self-consciously Christian tales of bravery, resourcefulness, and fearless exploration have inspired hundreds of thousands of boys to embrace the call of manhood to its fullest, noblest capacity. And, even more important than the excitement and intrigue of his stories, Ballantyne’s heart for evangelizing and discipling young men shines brightly as his books powerfully reveal that the sole safeguard against evil is the redemptive love of God.
“But be cautious!,” warns fifteen-year-old Joshua Phillips, editor of BallantyneTheBrave.com: “His books come with a warning from ‘Ballantyne the Brave’ himself, ‘If there is any boy or man who loves to be melancholy and morose, and who cannot enter into the regions of fun, let me seriously advise him to shut my book and put it away. It was not meant for him.’”
In the pages of Ballantyne’s masterful literary adventures, you will learn about the preciousness of time and the Christian boy’s call to action. You will learn that only godly character will truly win the day, and what it means to be a man with a Gospel mission. And you will learn this in the context of high adventure and the chivalric code of nobility. Eric Quayle, author of The Collector’s Book of Boy’s Stories, explained that Ballantyne’s characters:
...rescued helpless natives from a cruel death at the hands of cannibals, or dashed through smoke and flames to the side of the swooning heroine, or plunged without a moment’s hesitation into the shark infested waters for the sake of an injured friend. And, at the end of their courageous display of selfless devotion to duty, they modestly refused to accept any thanks from the victims of the drama other than perhaps a firm shake of a gratefully outstretched hand of the one who had been snatched from the jaws of a fearful death.
Learn More about R.M. Ballantyne’s Classic Tales and Save 50%!
How He Became ‘Ballantyne the Brave’
Ballantyne earned his title from Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Kidnapped. But for Ballantyne, Stevenson might never have made his travels through the Pacific where, notably, he wrote his masterpiece Treasure Island. Reading Ballantyne’s The Coral Island at age fifteen sparked in Stevenson both his life-long love for the South Seas, and a fierce devotion to his fellow Scot. Stevenson even included Ballantyne in the introduction to his book Treasure Island, where he dubbed this proponent of Gospel Christianity and boyhood adventure, “Ballantyne the Brave.” The title stuck.
They Loved Him So Much, He Received His Own Memorial
The “Scotch Thistle,” the floral
emblem of Scotland, serves as the
emblem of the R.M. Ballantyne Series
published by Vision Forum |
No author, including the much-beloved G.A. Henty, ever received a more overwhelming response from young boys at the time of his death. It was during 1858, shortly after The Coral Island’s publication, that Ballantyne first experienced the agreeable but embarrassing sensation of being followed through the streets of Edinburgh by admiring youngsters, and his autograph became the prize possession of many a keen Scot lad. When the news of R.M. Ballantyne’s death reached Britain in 1894, it sent shockwaves through the world of schoolboys. At first the news was met with incredulity, and then with heartfelt dismay by his tens of thousands of young readers.
Eric Quayle described it this way:
The immense popularity of the scores of books he had written for the young men of his day had created a legend regarding their author that made them eager to subscribe to what they hoped would be a lasting monument to perpetuate his name. Led by the boys of Harrow School, a movement started almost immediately when the news of his death reached England. They voted to raise a fund to erect a marble edifice so that later generations would remember the name of the man who had brought them so many hours of excitement and pleasure. Within a few months, over six hundred pounds ($1,440) had been collected in schools throughout the country, mostly in hard won pennies and sixpence from the pockets of teenage boys. Such a spontaneous gesture by the impecunious schoolboys of Victoria’s Britain is without precedent and nothing of similar nature has ever occurred from that day onwards.
The Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library
One of Vision Forum’s primary missions is to equip families with tools to help them inspire boys and girls toward courageous manhood and noble womanhood. This means finding literature that challenges the cynicism of our modern age with transcendent biblical truths that give hope to our children. In the annals of nineteenth century Christian adventure literature, nothing fits that bill better than the writings of Robert Michael Ballantyne.
Joshua Phillips |
One of my favorite pastimes is reading the books of G.A. Henty and R.M. Ballantyne. I have read more than eighty Hentys which my father has given me, and have completed nearly twenty books by Ballantyne. Henty’s books are manly adventure stories for boys set in different periods of history. Ballantyne writes the same sort of stories but sets them in wonderful and exotic geographical locations. One thing I really like about Ballantyne is the fact that his stories are explicitly Christian. The heroes of the stories believe in the Bible, lead people to Christ, and demonstrate the kind of Christian character which I know is important. I hope other boys will enjoy the stories as much as I have. —Joshua Phillips, Age 14
Each Ballantyne book available from Vision Forum has been republished with quality and care, offering today’s readers Smythe-sewn hardbound books that will in turn be enjoyed by generations of readers to come. This Ballantyne’s Day, make “Ballantyne the Brave” your family’s faithful friend and adventure guide, and be inspired to embrace life’s trials, tribulations, and triumphs for the cause of Christ.
Celebrate Ballantyne’s Day with 50% Savings!
Celebrate Ballantyne’s Day with 50% savings from Vision Forum! From now through April 28, 2009, pay only $220 for the entire 20-volume Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library. This is a savings of $220 off the per-book retail price of $22.
Offer expires at midnight (CDT) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.
Read More about Each Title in the
Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library
Click here to download a FREE Ballantyne Book Brochure with descriptions of all 20 titles.
Celebrate Ballantyne’s Day with the Gift of Elsie!
When author Martha Finley first introduced the Elsie Dinsmore series at the end of the nineteenth century, it grew in such fame that more than twenty-five million volumes were sold. Her stories of Christian faith and fidelity in the life of a little girl named Elsie thrilled untold tens of thousands of readers.
Looking for the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library? Click Here.
The past 10+ years have seen Elsie discovered and embraced by a new generation of readers, as she has become one of the most beloved heroines of Christian literature among homeschool families across the country. Thousands of Christian students have been delighted to read the stories of a little girl whose love for Jesus Christ defined her life and motivated her to act with courage and fortitude through the most challenging of circumstances.
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| $90.00 |
| Save $90.00 (50%) |
| Regular Price $180.00 |
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In this classic Christian series, follow the life of Elsie from her heroic childhood in which her faith is perpetually tested, to a life of noble womanhood in which Elsie stands for Christ, builds a Christian home, and raises her own children for the glory of God. It is one of the few exclusively Christian and doctrinally strong fictional series for young ladies ever published.
Build Your Library with Elsie Dinsmore
One of our goals at Vision Forum is to help parents build libraries for their children which will inspire and motivate the next generation to persevere in Christ. This is the reason we chose to join Mantle Ministries in the publication of these rare and outstanding books. If you are interested in building a library for your progeny, the 12-volume Elsie Dinsmore Library is a great place to start. To help you on your personal library-building journey, we are pleased to offer a limited-time special price on this series.
Save 50% on the Elsie Dinsmore Library!
Normally, each hardback book in the Elsie Dinsmore Library retails at $15. If you were to purchase each of these books individually, the price would be $180. However, from now through April 28, 2009, pay only $90 for the entire 12-volume set. This is a savings of $90 off the per-book retail price — 50% off!
Offer expires at midnight (CDT) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.
Read More about Each Title in the Elsie Dinsmore Library
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