Boys [should be] inured from childhood to trifling risks and slight dangers of every possible description, such as tumbling into ponds and off of trees, etc., in order to strengthen their nervous system.... They ought to practice leaping >off heights into deep water. They ought never to hesitate to cross a stream over a narrow unsafe plank for fear of a ducking. They ought never to decline to climb up a tree, to pull fruit merely because there is a possibility of their falling off and breaking their necks. I firmly believe that boys were intended to encounter all kinds of risks, in order to prepare them to meet and grapple with risks and dangers incident to man’s career with cool, cautious self-possession.... —R.M. Ballantyne, The Gorilla Hunters
He was perhaps the most influential writer of boys’ literature of his generation. He was also a devout Christian of the Scottish Covenanter kind and the only outspoken advocate for Christian boyhood to have a monument paid for and dedicated in his honor by grateful children.
Robert Michael Ballantyne
“The Boys’ Storywriter”
1825-1894
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His name was R.M. Ballantyne, and he not only inspired a generation of writers to take up their pens in defense of the ideals of biblical manhood, but he changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of boys for the better with his globe-trekking adventure stories that emphasized Christian character in the face of adversity.
In the twentieth century, many publishers declined to carry Ballantyne because of his strong biblical emphasis. Others hoped to capitalize on the past popularity of his books, but required that Ballantyne’s overt Gospel Christianity be stricken from his storylines.
Now, Vision Forum is pleased to introduce R.M. Ballantyne to twenty-first century children. Our Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library comes complete with the faith-affirming Christianity of the original volumes, just as intended by the author. And we are pleased to announce that the first ten volumes are hot off the press!
Now you can travel to The Coral Island, where you can learn how a group of Christian boys shipwrecked in the South Pacific rely on godly wisdom, biblical insight, and plucky courage to outwit and overcome pirates. Or you can trace one lad’s heroic adventures through the Canadian outback in The Young Fur Traders. Or fight your way through polar bears and trek through some of the most perilous terrain known to man in search of the very top of the world in The Giant of the North. Or search for the most ferocious of jungle animals found in darkest Africa in The Gorilla Hunters. You can even walk again with the undaunted Scottish Covenanters in their quest to have no king over their church but Jesus Christ Himself in Hunted and Harried.
These are just a few of the stories you will encounter in the first ten volumes of Vision Forum’s new series — the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library.
Click here to read the individual book descriptions or to purchase the set.
Ballantyne — An Antidote to the ‘Slothful, Uninspired Boy Syndrome’
Do you have a boy who needs a little inspiration? Give him Ballantyne!
In the pages of these masterful literary adventures, your son will learn about the preciousness of time and the Christian boy’s call to action. He will learn that only godly character will win the day, and he will learn what it means to be a man with a Gospel mission. And he 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.
How He Became ‘Ballantyne the Brave’
He 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.
The “Scotch Thistle,” the floral emblem of Scotland, serves as the emblem of the R.M. Ballantyne Series published by Vision Forum
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They Loved Him So Much, He Received His Own Memorial
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.
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
Ballantyne was not just another writer of the Victorian age who penned exciting historic fiction. His strong and uncompromising Christian presuppositions undergird all his stories. He encouraged his readers to put their trust in God for this life and the next, and taught in his stories that the one safeguard against evil is the redemptive love of God.
This is why republishing the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library fulfills a long-time dream for Vision Forum. It is why we are so pleased to release the first ten books in our series of more than sixty volumes to be printed in the months and years ahead. It is why we have produced each Ballantyne book with quality and care, offering today’s readers Smythe-sewn hardbound books that will be enjoyed by generations of readers to come. And it is why we encourage you to make “Ballantyne the Brave” your own family’s faithful friend and adventure guide, confident that the man who broke tens of thousands of boys’ hearts with his passing will inspire yours with his literary return.
The Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library includes the following ten titles:
Introductory Special: Save 32% When You Buy the Ten Volume Set by June 5
Normally, each Smythe-sewn, hardback book in the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library retails for $22. If you were to purchase each of these books individually, the total price would be $220. However, for one week only during this introductory special offer, Vision Forum is offering the entire ten-volume set for $149, plus shipping. That’s just $15 apiece for these beautifully bound, substantial, hardback, collectible books. This is a savings of $71 from the retail per-book price — 32% off. Offer expires at midnight on Tuesday, June 5 (CDT).
Click here to read the individual book descriptions or to purchase the set.
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