Oliver Twist The alternative title, "The Parish Boy's Progress", alludes to Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, "A Rake's Progress" and "A Harlot's Progress". In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirises the hypocrisies of his time, including child labour, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences
Dragon Boy (novel) Dragon Boy (novel) Dragon Boy is a children's novel by British author Dick King-Smith, first published in 1993. The novel is about John, a young orphan in the Middle Ages who is adopted by dragons. "Dragon Boy" appears on numerous school reading lists and is taught in schools. It has been used as one of the practice texts for the English Common Entrance Examination for year 6 students to move to senior school. Montague Bunsen-Burner is a dragon who is put on a 'no-humans' diet by his wife Albertina. Out on a flight later that day, Montague discovers a young