The Children of Dickens ~ Free eBook

The Children of Dickens by Samuel McChord Crothers is a free eBook containing 24 tales about Charles Dickens and the children in his stories. The book uses illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith.

Crothers was a preacher and author and considered himself a “Gentle Reader”:

WHAT has become of the Gentle Reader? One does not like to think that he has passed away with the stagecoach and the weekly news-letter; and that henceforth we are to be confronted only by the stony glare of the Intelligent Reading Public. Once upon a time, that is to say a generation or two ago, he was very highly esteemed. To him books were dedicated, with long rambling prefaces and with episodes which were their own excuse for being. In the very middle of the story the writer would stop with a word of apology or explanation addressed to the Gentle Reader, or at the very least with a nod or a wink. No matter if the fate of the hero be in suspense or the plot be inextricably involved….

The Gentle Reader has no ulterior aims. All he wants to know is how Izaak Walton felt when he went fishing, and what he was thinking about.

The Gentle Reader by Samuel McChord Crothers

It is likely with this type of thinking in mind that Crothers chose to speak to young readers, beginning with a look at Dickens’s London:

The London the Dickens people lived in was a big city, so big that one easily got lost in it. The railroads were just coming in, but they didn’t get into the stories. There were no telephones or electric lights or automobiles or radios. People came in from the green country on gay stage-coaches with prodigious tooting of horns and cracking of whips. They stopped at inns, where a great deal of eating and drinking was going on. But when they left the inns to explore the town, they plunged into a maze of the queerest streets imaginable. The streets ran in every direction except in the direction one wanted to go. Many of them were mere alleys, but they were always crowded. One soon got down to the river, where there were old warehouses that leaned over the water but never actually fell in. There were old and shabby houses, and the people were made to match them. That is what made them so interesting and exciting. Yet, though there were so many people on the streets that you didn’t know, it was curious to be all the time running across people you did know, or who knew you. If you were trying to hide, you were sure to be found out. On the other hand, you could get lost with no difficulty at all.

From the London setting, we read about Dickens himself. The author captures Dickens the writer in a magnificent way:

When he was twelve years old, his father lost his money and was thrown into a debtors’ prison. It was a queer way they had then of treating a person who couldn’t pay his debts. They shut him up where he couldn’t earn anything. Charles had to visit pawn-shops to try to borrow money for the family. Then he was put to work in a big, gloomy establishment where they made blacking for shoes. His work was to sit all day on a bench pasting labels on the boxes. Then he would have to find ways of keeping alive on a few pennies he got each day.

But though he had a very hard time for a year or two, he spent his time greatly to his own and our advantage. Before he was thirteen, he had accumulated a great deal of experience. He had kept his eyes open and had seen a side of life that most people never see at all.

When I think of Dickens and of his way of finding out obscure people, and making them interesting, I remember the advice I once read in a newspaper as to how to find a collar-button. When a collar-button rolls off the dressing-table, it seems to have an uncanny way of rolling out of sight. The gentleman who is in need of it feels himself greatly aggrieved over the collar-button’s easy way of getting lost. Now the newspaper man said that the reason the man doesn’t see the collar-button is that he stands too high above it. If he will forget all about his dignity and lie down on the floor, he can’t help but see what he is looking for. In order to see it he must get down to the level where the collar-button is. There he will see it shining like a little mountain of gold.

The Stories

With this useful background, we then take a look at Dickens’s characters, the children as he portrayed them throughout his various stories. These include:

Pip.
David Copperfield.
Little Nell.
Oliver Twist.
The Cratchits.

But it also includes more places and characters from Dickens’s imagination. Most sections include an actual snippet from the original to whet the appetite for enjoying the full story at a later time.

While some of these stories will be best saved for later years, the experience this book offers can be enjoyed by all.

Published in 1925 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, this public domain title was part of the Scribner Illustrated Classics series. It makes a beautiful read-aloud introduction to the works of Dickens.

Free eBook

Suggestions

Have your children do one or more of the following:

There are 24 tales. Cover one each week for a full year of lessons (with room for holidays and vacations).
After reading each tale aloud, have your child provide a narration. Older students can write their narrations.
There are several locales mentioned. Without overdoing, look these up and mark them on a map.
Have your student choose a favorite character. Why does he like that character best? Write (or dictate orally) a character sketch.
The time in which Dickens lived is very different than our time. Provide a comparison/contrast.
If you are into art, try your hand at copying one of the illustrations on Drawing and Writing paper. Provide a caption.
The first Dickens story we enjoyed was A Christmas Carol. When your students are ready, make this one a family tradition!
Write an author page for Dickens.

DIY Homeschooler