For May, I was planning on reading some biographies and I
thought of Frank L. Baum, the author of The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz because his birthday is in May. (May 15 to be exact)
But when I went to look for juvenile biographies on Baum,
they were all checked out! Imagine that! Someone else must have had my idea. So
I turned my focus to another certain author who has gotten some recent press in
2012; the one and only Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens celebrated a birthday this year…his 200th
birthday on February 7th. The world took noticed by honoring his
bicentennial with a Google Doodle as well as several new books published about
his life. For this review, I’ll be looking at two of them.
While he was alive, Charles Dickens never published a full
account of his life. He also seldom mentioned his childhood, but his
experiences reflected themselves in his characters and stories (David Copperfield in particular) Not
surprisingly these books geared towards children talk about Dickens as a child.
A Boy Called Dickens
By Deborah Hopkins with illustrations by John Hendrix/ 2012
By Deborah Hopkins with illustrations by John Hendrix/ 2012
Technically this isn’t a nonfiction biography but a
historical picture book based on Dickens’s life. The story focuses on the years
when young Charles had to leave school and work in a factory making boot
polish. While he longs to return to school, he makes the best of his situation
by telling stories at work as requested by his friend Bob Fagin.
The books suggested that even at a young age, Charles was already
crafting the ideas and developing the characters that would play a part in his
novels. Where ever Charles goes, he is followed by a trail of ghosts/shadows
that are his characters ready to be brought to life.
“Then Dickens walks
on, surrounded by pickpockets; ladies of shattered hopes; a miserly old
man…there are lawyers, clerks, convicts and keepers of old curiosity shops.
There are even ghosts and spirits. And children like Dickens, trying to hold on
to a dream”
Charles has to visit his father and family in debtor’s prison
while at the age of 12, he must work for his food and humble lodgings. A scene
takes place when Charles’ father is released and see his son in the store
window of the factory. Other passerby stop and gawk at the boys in the factory
but his father feels ashamed to “see his son on display” Our story ends with a
quarrel between factory owner, and Mr. and Mrs. Dickens, but at last Charles
can leave work and return to the school room.
I would consider this
a picture book for older readers. It’s an easy fast read with a clever writing
style that pays homage to Dickens own style.
While the book ends on a happy note, the author does leave us with a
bittersweet moral at the end.
“For years Dickens
kept the story of his own childhood secret. Yet it is a story worth telling.
For it helps us remember how much we all might lose when a child’s dreams don’t
come true”
Charles Dickens: Scenes from an extraordinary life
By Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom/ 2011
By Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom/ 2011
Part graphic novel, part biography and part literature
lesson, this book is an ideal introduction into the life and works of Charles
Dickens. It’s also especially good for young readers who are not yet ready to
tackle the heavier works by Dickens.
As with A Boy Called
Dickens, these authors also pay homage to the style and prose of Charles
Dickens Victorian novel, most recognizable in the first pages details Charles’s
birth.
“I was born on a
Friday, at twelve o’ clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to
strike and I began to cry, simultaneously. Whether I shall turn out to be the
hero of my own life these pages must show…”
Those who know Dickens’s works well will be assumed at these
passages and for those like me who have just a general knowledge of his books;
there is a helpful guide in the back that lists “Dickens’ own words used in the
main text. Also there is a quick summary in comic strip form of almost every
one of Dickens’ well-known novels scattered through the book.(However A Tale of Two Cities is not included,
which I found odd.) So if you give this a thorough read, you’ll be up to snuff
with at least the basic plots of these great works of literature.
As we read, we follow Charles’ life including his family
move to London and his adventures at 11 when he became lost on the streets and decided
to explore. He spent the night in Guildhall and snuck into a theatre. Tragedy
strikes as John Dickens is arrested for failure to pay debts and 12 year old
Charles goes to work in Warren’s Blacking Warehouse. When his father was
released from jail, he insisted his son stop working and go back to school.
However his wife Elizabeth protested, wanting her son to work and earn more
money. According to most accounts, Charles never forgave his mother for wanting
to send him back to the factory.
The events from his life inspired Dickens’ novels and in
turn, his novels inspired changes in real life. One such example was Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens and his
partner, Hablot Knight Browne, visited one of the ‘Yorkshire’ schools for
troubled boys and saw the wretched conditions. In his novel, a young teacher Nicholas,
does his best to help the boys at Dotheboy’s Hall. The cruel headmaster
Wackford Squeers was based of the owner of the school Dickens had visited,
William Shaw. Nicholas Nickleby was published in serial
between 1838-89 and “caused a public outcry, forcing many ‘Yorkshire Schools’
to close forever.”
Another example is how Charles Dickens took his own
experiences from childhood and brushes with poverty and expressed them through
his characters. His experiences working at Warren’s can be seen in the story of
David Copperfield, whose characters
were inspired by “people Dickens knew and loved” Dickens often wandered the
streets of London and wrote essays observing the poor and destitute. He particularly
had sympathy for the children and orphans (Oliver
Twist) and worked towards social reforms for children later in his life.
We are left at the end with the unfortunate passing of this great
writer and with another mystery, as his last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood remained unfinished.
"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every
human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every
other" Charles Dickens
Other recommended reading
Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London
By Andrea Warren/2011
By Andrea Warren/2011
A brief biography of Charles Dickens' life and works, as well as a detailed account of the actions of Dickens and other men to help improves the lives of the street children of London
