Charles Dickens is a World known famous author. He wrote "A Christmas Carol", "Oliver Twist," and his first published book "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club". This book covers most of his life, when he was a boy and moved to several houses each one poorer than the last. When he got a job to support his family two days after he turned twelve. Some of you might or you might not know that his Dad, John Dickens, had one serious flaw. He spent more than he earned so naturally he had many debts. When he wasn't able to pay them all off he was sent to jail. Although the rest of Charles' family went to jail he didn't. He worked and worked until he could get his family out of jail. His mother, sadly, died in the jail which left money for John. The family was released from jail and Charles sent back to school after working a awhile longer at the factory. Charles ended school at the age of 18 and set out on his own. Charles was doing okay with his life but one day he dropped one of his small stories off for the Monthly Newspaper. Everyone one loved Dickens' stories and he soon wrote " The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club". Dickens became world famous with that book and set off to America a little bit later. Oops, did I forget to mention that Charles married Catherine Hogarth but didn't in fact love her but her sister who died of a heart attack in Dickens' hands. Catherine and Charles married and had 10 kids one of them Charles and another Mary. Anyway Charles set off America and didn't like it so headed back for London. Charles went on tours to read and act out many of his famous stories. He did so many of these that he got sick and yes died after saying farewell to everyone on his last reading. Charles returned home and wrote a bit more until later the day he decided to write had a stroke and died the following day.

I for one am very glad that Diane Stanley wrote this book so I could learn about Charles Dickens. This was a great book and great illustrations. I learned that the idiom from rags to riches can actually be true. I also loved hearing Charles' life of being an average boy to a poor boy and from a poor boy to one of the most well known authors in the world. This is definitely a story I would encourage people to read and try to be even the smallest slice of how tough Charles Dickens was. So for my conclusion I'd have to say I just found a great role model.

This made me determined to finally get around to all those classics that have been on my shelf since high school (the only Dickens I've read is A Christmas Carol, can you believe it?). He sounds like he would have been a fabulous person to be friends with, and he cared about many of the same causes I care about. It's so nice to see when an author is appreciated during his time, and Dickens was definitely a celebrity. I loved the part about his American readers who were so anxious to learn what happened in the next installment of The Old Curiosity Shop that they waited at the docks for the boat carrying the shipment, shouting "Is Nell dead?" to the passengers on board. ( )

This was an interesting book, though I've never had the chance to read any of Charles Dicken's work. I thought it was interesting to learn about romance and Dickens' love life. I'm now intrigued to read his books and learn more about what it was to not have financial stability in that time. The illustrations are really great and compliment the biography.

Charles Dickens, The Man Who Had Great Expectations, is a beautifully written and illustrated book that chronicles a great deal of the life of one of the most recognized and beloved writers. It tells the story of a young man who grew up in poverty, worked in a horrible factory, and whose family had to go to debtor’s prison. From his humble beginnings and great frustrations, Charles began writing his own stories, starting with The Pickwick Papers. Charles rose to great fame with his many books, many of which included experiences from his childhood. He wrote of orphanages, factories, and prisons, and opened the eyes of his readers to the plight of the poor in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution.
The book talks about his loves, his marriage, his rise to fame, his travels to America, which he found rather vulgar, and his acquisitions of wealth. It also talks about his love of writing and performing in the theatre.
The book talks about many of his characters, who have become so well known and loved/ hated throughout the years. Some of these characters are Eboneezer Scrooge, Oliver Twist, Mrs. Havashim, and Little Nell.
The illustrations in the book are extremely detailed and lend a great deal to the story. There is even a map of his travels to America which is very informative.
This biography is long, and would be better suited to a student third grade or older. It is very informative, and I recommend it. Three Stars.

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