Celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Dickens’ birth – 7th February 2012
Tomorrow marks two hundred years since Charles Dickens was born. Many events are taking place throughout February to celebrate Dickens’ work.
My love of Dickens really started when I was in the Lower Sixth Form at school, when I studied Great Expectations for my English Literature coursework. You may have watched the recent BBC adaptation of Great Expectations over Christmas. Reading this work of genius for the first time was so special and the characters of Pip, Miss Havisham and Estella really came alive to me.
Many of the themes in Dickens’ novels are still relevant today. Despite being written in the 1800s, many can be seen as a history lesson for younger readers picking up these stories for the first time. From the horrors of child labour in Oliver Twist to the problems arising from debt and greed in Little Dorrit, the struggles of Victorian life are portrayed in Dickens’ novels. These may seem a world away from today’s world, but perhaps these issues are more relevant than we realise.
The legacy of the Dickens’ is still apparent in modern culture and language. Every Christmas, the story of a Christmas Carol is retold to a new generation. One is still know as a “scrooge” if they are miserly with their money. Indeed, the author’s own name has become a way that describes the narrow, imposing streets of Victorian London. (Usborne have some links to Dickensian London maps on there website – see my information below about Usborne quicklinks).
Readers can help children celebrate the bicentenary with the brilliant Usborne Young Readers set of Dickens titles. These classics have been re-told for a younger audience and are available for children. The re-mastered titles include: Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities and Little Dorrit.
Usborne have some fantastic resources to help the new readers discover more about Dickens. There are links to maps and information about Dickensian London, as well as information about prominent characters and different stories by Dickens among other things. Visit the Usborne Quicklinks website to discover a wealth of information on Dickens including
http://www.usborne-quicklinks.com/uk/uk_entity_pages/uk_illustrated_dickens.asp?lvl=1&id=2853
For further information visit www.usborne.com
You can also follow Usborne on Twitter @Usborne
We have a set of the Illustrated Dickens titles from Usborne to giveaway. Just leave a comment below or retweet this post to enter.
Lovely prize! have also retweeted as pippatrulymadly
I think making these fantastic stories accessible to younger children is opening a whole world to them. Great prize!
fantastic prize – the books sound amazing!
Oh I love introducing classics to our kids!!! And seriously aren’t Usborne books simply the best!!!
Great prize – will RT as liveotherwise as well
Sounds perfect for my two story-loving but sometimes reluctant reader sons!
I love Dickens and look forward to sharing them with my children. Love the idea of versions for younger kids. This would be great for homeschooling this coming year!
I love Dickens too, I the idea of children’s versions is fantastic, perfect for my youngest daughter.
I remember studying A tale of two cities which I adored
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I have RT’d as @lisapop01
great books my son would love them, also tweeting as @dillydomdallie
Fantasitc prize and have retweeted! @Jenni000
Always have, always will love Dickens – I was a lucky child as my primary school really encouraged us to read Dickens and my love grew from there – unfortunately secondary school chose to not include his great works in the curriculum but I continued to read anyway. I pity my daughter who never got to experience his fab writing and characters during her early years at school but I have encouraged her and we have read and enjoyed together Nicholas Nickleby, A Christmas Carol (her favourite) and Tale Of Two Cities – this would be excellent!
RTd @bezzzzza