Read of the Week: "Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London"

By Katrina Bergen
Children/Youn Adults Librarian,

Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London by Andrea Warren is great just-for-fun reading and a valuable resource for homework assignments.

The author captures Dickens’ concern for the city’s poorest children and his zeal for reform by describing his life, works, and very sig­nificant impact on public attitudes.

Read about the Foundling Hospital for un­wanted babies, which opened in 1741, and was sustained by two 18th-century artists, Handel and Hogarth, and years later, was a favorite charity of Dickens.

The book includes a section about the Dickens-supported Ragged School movement, the precur­sor to public education.  Informative end notes are provided about the Victorian era, the history of the workhouse, and the current dilemma of child labor and poverty.

Finally, the au­thor directs young readers to websites and ways in which they can help, saying “Charles Dickens and other reformers you’ve read about in this book can be your inspiration.”  Dickens fans and young people interested in making a difference will love this book.