In the course of preparation I came across this site here. What it has to say about Calvin is a little disturbing and misleading but no surprise.
In the mid A.D. 1500s another religious leader by the name of John Calvin began working to bring about reform in the Catholic Church. Like Huldrych Zwingli, Calvin lived in Switzerland, and wanted to set up a theocracy.
By A.D. 1541 (1) John Calvin had managed to set up his theocracy in Geneva. The city government forced all citizens to attend church several times a week, and had very strict rules about what people could and could not do.
John Calvin wrote a book, which he called The Institutes of The Christian Religion. This book became quite popular in his day, and would become very influential among future reformers. (2)
Calvin’s most important teaching was that mankind could not control or change anything (3) in this earth (sic) life. Calvin believed that everything was controlled by god (sic), the past, the present, and the future. He called this doctrine predestination. (4) According to this doctrine, certain people were predestined to heaven, while others were predestined to hell. They believed that an individual could do nothing to change their predestination.
As they worked to insure that their people practiced the religious teachings that were required by law, they put many people to death for various crimes against the church, such as witchcraft, or being too Catholic.
1 That was the year they let him back in after kicking him out. On this see Michael Horton here.
2 First published in 1536, Calvin’s Institutes became an instant best-seller, and has been republished and translated nearly 100 times in dozens of languages.
3 Not how Calvin would have put it
4 Hardly a belief peculiar to Calvin
If you want a good children's book on Calvin try this one - After darkness light by Catherine MacKenzie
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