The value series

In a much earlier post, I talked about my admiration for Cochise. I believe I mentioned a book about him and the "Value of truth" or something. I also remember one about Louis Pasteur and his addition to scientific knowledge. I do not remember much about the specifics of the books except they were colorful with entertaiing drawings, they were a nice read, and they gave some information that really tried to steer kids (and was very conscious of this detail).
I enjoyed those books. They were mildly informative, inspiring to a ten-something (an age like a 30-something, except not so clearly defined as to attributes) and something that might inspire a person to study the life of a person more in-depth.
Well, right now I am studying Will Rogers as a prominent, 1/8 Cherokee who made a large impact on society with a prominently displayed Native American side. He was proud of his heritage and used it as part of his public persona, including being billed as "The Cherokee Kid" early in his performing career. I selected a number of books from the library.
Lo and behold, one of them was entitled "The Value of Humor: The Will Rogers Story". I instantly recognized it as one of those books from the line with Cochise and Pasteur. With the pleasant memories of those books in my head, I eagerly added it to my list and last night I got around to reading it. Having just finished 3 or 4 in-depth biographies, I have begun to develop a picture of Rogers. The biographies have been consistent in presenting his relationships with family, friends, school, work, and so forth. His demeanor, life events, and so forth are all fairly well defined and the only real mystery in or about his life is some people question his motivation about his political writing.
Comparing these books to "The Value" is...interesting. And somewhat disillusioning. Certainly The Value takes a certain...poetic license. For instance, it presents Will and his Dad having a close relationship. Will Rogers was a funny man. He was a talented man. He was a good man. He was not close with his Father, however. In fact, they spent much time at odds. His Father did not take his lack of attention in school lightly, nor did he cotton to the footloose ways of Will's life.
The chronology of Will as humorist has great liberties taken with it as well. As does the marriage to Betty. And...well, okay, you get the picture. Basically, in order to make the point to kids, in a series specifically originated and designed to teach kids "positive values", the book twists the truth in order to illustrate its point.
I am of mixed mind on that. On the one hand, I appreciate what the author was trying to do. He tried to use the lives of famous people to illustrate good things...however, does the end (teaching people how to be good citizens) justify the means (twisting the truth, manipulating it, making editorial changes that result in deceptions and at times outright lies)?
And I cannot say that it does. Actually, one thought that sprung into my head, almost in these words, was "if the Will Rogers book is this far off, how far off was the Cochise one? Has my whole understanding of his life been wrong?"
And it is true. A foundation that is built faulty casts doubt on everything that follows. Trust (ironically, part of the title of the Cochise book) is based on a belief that information is accurate and in my best interests. This result, however, is not trust...I do not believe my trust in that series is recoverable.
If I cannot trust it in cases where I know the truth, how can I trust it whereI don't know what is accurate? Furthermore, if I had kids, would I want them learning good values from untruth?
Yes, I am that pedantic. I want to be able to trust my sources. And if i don't, I disregard them. How weird is that?