A Boy Called Dickens

A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson and John Hendrix is about a young Charles Dickens and his family. The story is written as if the reader is following Dickens but never quite gets to hear and see everything. Dickens grew up in hard times when it was normal for children to work long hours and never attend school, but Dickens was different. Although he worked in a factor and his father and mother were in jail, Charles loved to write and read even though it was tough for him to get his hands on materials. The book explains how Dickens loved to tell stories and write stories as much as he could.
This book is a great story to explain child labor and the life of Charles Dickens. In the story Charles has to work to support his family even though he is very young. Many children in America have never had to work before especially at a young age. Students could learn that back in history children use to work and would only attend school for a short time in their lives. A teacher could also explain that still today in some places in the world, children are still being forced to work and not attend school. This book could also be used in older classrooms, such a high school aged students, who are beginning to read a Dickens novel. The students could learn about how Dickens grew up and why his stories are about the poor.