Step-Up History Series - "Children in Victorian Times" by Jill Barber (Evans Brothers Ltd)

As regular visitors to the blog will know, Charlotte is a history girl. She absolutely loves any books that delve deep into history, or even into the near-past to show what life was like and in particular what children were like in days gone by.

One of her favourite periods in history is the Victorian era, and this book is a brilliant potted history of how children lived under the reign of one of Britain's best-loved monarchs.

For a lot of children, life was far from sweet. Child labour still existed well into this era, and children often worked in mines, or performed harsh manual tasks in the various mills and factories that sprang up during the industrial revolution.

Jill Barber has gathered together a huge wealth of material to engage young minds with, ranging from brilliant illustrations and photographs from the era, to first-hand accounts and letters from children and their guardians describing what conditions were like.

Schools feature heavily in the book, showing what life was like in a Victorian school.

This book held Charlotte's attention wonderfully, and of course the best part about diving into non-fiction books are the many questions and points of investigation that we can dive onto the internet to find more out about, or wade through other books to see how they compare.

Charlotte's best bit: Accounts from a little girl who was a minecart handler, at the same age as Charlotte

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fascinating slice of history, nicely formatted and chock full of content to engage young minds