Fanny Crosby: Queen of Gospel Songs Book

A biography of the nineteenth-century blind woman who wrote more than 9,000 hymns.

Pat Trattles - Children's Literature

When Fanny Crosby is still an infant, her mother notices that Fanny's eyes are not quite right. They are red and weepy, and it soon becomes obvious that they are badly infected. The regular doctor is away, and in desperation Fanny's parents allow a traveling doctor to treat her. The mustard plaster he applies does nothing to clear up the infection and only results in permanently blinding the little baby. Being blind in the early part of the 19th century is not an easy thing, but in spite of the odds against her, Fanny Crosby grows up to be a well-known religious songwriter, composing in excess of 9000 hymns. The problem with this book is that it is extremely didactic, and because it tries to cover Fanny's entire life from birth to death, we are told her story rather than living it with her. We never get to know Fanny as a person, and in fact she seems too good to be real. Fanny's struggles with her blindness are there, but they are glossed over in order to present what the author apparently thinks is a more important message about God's goodness and God's will. Because most children today do not want to be preached to, this book, unfortunately, misses the mark. 2003, BJU Press, Ages 7 to 9.