Live Like a Victorian
Claire Saunders, illustrated by Wesley Robins
Button Books

The Victorian age was a time when, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, inventions, new technology and ideas, great changes took place that transformed people’s lives and work. A timeline early in the book shows some of the main events and changes: try imagining life without bikes, electric street lights, cars, railways, movies and aeroplanes – all of which were invented during Victorian times.

We meet two Victorian children, eleven year old Will from a poor family, and nine year old Dora from a much wealthier family. These two help show how very unequal society and hence life was for those with money and those without. Readers get an insight into the difference between the rights and opportunities men and women had, the contrasting grand homes of the rich and those of the poor, life in the workhouse, the work poor children had to do, education,

fashion, food, entertainment, law and order and more.

The book also has some hands-on activities – recipes and crafts – particularly useful if a class is studying this period of history and there’s a detailed map showing the British Empire and trade routes. It’s a shocking thought nowadays to see how in 1910 a quarter of the world’s population lived under British rule.

Claire Saunders’ engaging text and Wesley Robins’ fascinating illustrations combine to bring the Victorian era to life. The book ends by asking children, ‘Could you live like a Victorian?’and there’s a final glossary. One to add to KS2 class collections.