There exists a multitude of adaptations of Charles Dickens’s novels for children and young adults, but thus far this body of work has been paid little critical attention. This thesis proposes to change that by analysing a sample of these texts to explore what is ‘Dickensian’ about adaptations of Dickens’s novels for children and young adults. I argue that Dickens’s appeal to adaptors targeting young audiences lies in the specificities of his writing, that is, elements which are often referred to as ‘Dickensian’. This project draws on children’s literature criticism, adaptation theory, and Dickens scholarship. The first part, comprising Staves One and Two, will address the question of why Dickens’s oeuvre has been so extensively adapted for young readers. Stave One argues that the categorisation of Dickens’s novels as classics contributes to his popularity with adaptors who are creating texts for young audiences. Stave Two builds on the first chapter in its attempt to determine which elements of Dickens’s writing make his work particularly suitable for adaptation for children and young adults, and thus make Dickens’s novels more popular with adaptors than those of his contemporaries. These characteristics are ones he shares with much of children’s literature, which is why his works prove such apt sources for young audiences. Stave Two focuses specifically on Dickens’s use of language, his characterisation, and his representation of children and childhood. The second section (Staves Three through Five) analyses adaptations of Dickens’s novels to determine the ways in which they engage with the distinctive elements of Dickens’s writing as identified in Stave Two. Stave Three focuses on how adaptations in a variety of media and intended for audiences of different ages engage with Dickens’s use of language. Stave Four examines the ways in which adaptations of Dickens’s novels represent the child characters and the child’s perspective which he explores in his own writing. I argue that the child’s perspective, which is at the centre of Dickens’s prose, is what results in the similarities between his novels and much of children’s literature (such as his use of language, as discussed in Stave Three) and consequently it is what leads to his enduring popularity with adaptors targeting young audiences. Stave Five addresses the (ir)relevance of Dickens’s representation of women for modern audiences, and the ways in which adaptations engage with Dickens’s depiction of stories as transformative, especially with regards to changing stereotypical gender roles. This thesis finds that what is most Dickensian about adaptations of Dickens for young audiences are a playful use of language, the privileging of the child’s perspective – which points towards a kinship between childhood and adulthood – and the emphasis placed on the transformative power of stories.