Warren, Andrea. Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London.

Warren, Andrea.  Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London.  HoughtonMifflin/

Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher, 2011.      156p.   $18.99.            ISBN 978-0-547-39574-6       E-BN

Dickens’ own experiences with childhood poverty are tied to his interest in correcting society’s ills as an adult and an author.    This readable and eloquent analysis of Dickens’ early experiences and the way they influenced his later writing career is well organized, interesting and compelling.  Although he was a child of privilege, he found himself working in a blacking factory at the age of twelve because of his father’s debts and his parents’ poor decision-making.  Several relevant excerpts from Oliver Twist are provided and analyzed in a very thoughtful manner.  Warren takes the time to inform her readers about the social institutions of the era, and the great societal changes that were taking place.  For example, we learn a lot about the Foundling Hospital and Mr. Coram, the man who established it 100 years prior to Dickens’ writing about it.  The illustrations are apt, well placed and beautiful.  This is an excellent addition to the biography section as well as the literary-criticism section of a middle-school or high-school library.                Subject: Dickens, Charles (1812-1870) -- Biography                   Carol Kennedy