Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist and many other books, turns 200 this year! Here are some recent books about his life.

Charles Dickens: England’s Most Captivating Storyteller by Catherine Wells-Cole, including extracts from the works of Charles Dickens

See the world of Charles Dickens spring to life in his fascinating notebook. Excerpts from his personal letters, guides to his major works, and enthralling facts about his life and times–including Dickens’s own amazing rags-to-riches story–are accompanied by fascinating new illustrations, drawings from the original books, and photographs from the period.

Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London by Andrea Warren

A biography of Charles Dickens, discussing how his father’s debts forced him to go to work in a shoe polish factory.He walked the streets of London and his observations of the poor led him to write novels with an eye toward bringing attention to the plight of London’s destitute children.

A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson, illus. by John Hendrix

  For years Dickens kept the story of his own childhood a secret.  As a youth, Dickens was forced to live on his own and work long hours in a rat-infested blacking factory. This reimagining of his little-known boyhood offers insight into the inspirations for his written works and is the perfect way to introduce children to the great author.