The Charles Dickens Children’s Collection

The Charles Dickens Children’s Collection is a boxed set of all 10 classic books, sure to give introvert bookworm children hours of delight.

1. Bleak House (after surviving 14 years with her horrible aunt (and nothing but a doll and old hankie for company), Esther’s life is looking brighter, she’s made new friends – but what about a mother?)
2. Oliver Twist (not just a musical, this is the story of an orphan born in a workhouse who runs away, and meets Fagin and the Artful Dodger, but what he really needs is a family.
3. A Christmas Carol (a ghost appears to thaw the heart of Scrooge, whose heart is colder then snow).
4. Great Expectations (Pip has no parents and lives with his scary sister, and wonders why a mysterious stranger his paying him lots of money?)
5. David Copperfield (with a dead father and his mother married to the country’s meanest man, he discovered terrible punishment at school, can life get any worse?)
6. The Old Curiosity Shop (filled with rusting relics and tattered treasure maps, this is Nell’s favourite place in the whole world, and also her home). But what happens when money gets tight?
7. Nicholas Nickleby (Kate and Nicholas are left penniless when their father dies, living in London with  only their horrible uncle to help them. He needs to save his family and quick, but how?)
8. Hard Times (Thomas thinks the world is just facts and figures, but when meets Sissy (abandoned by her father and full of fun and energy, can she changes his ways?)
9. A Tale of Two Cities (with daily beheadings and buildings burned, Paris in the Revolution is not the safest place). So when Dr Manette is released from prison and reunited with his daughter, things are getting better – but her boyfriend is keeping dangerous secrets..)
10. Little Dorrit (Amy’s father has been in prison, so she does chores for horrid Mrs Clennam and fixes her sisters’ dresses, and saves her own dinner, to feed her father). Could things get better?

Who Was Charles Dickens?

Born in Portsmouth (his father went to prison due to being in debt), Charles Dickens grew up writing about social justice, knowing the hardship that poverty could do to innocent families. A former Liverpool policeman, when he made his fortune, he used some of it to help set up a home for ‘fallen women’ so they could sort their lives out, without prejudice.

His writing had such influence, that even ‘real-life-scrooges’ made charitable donations. He used his books to push for better housing, decent work and fair laws. Fighting for people who had no voice.