They have lots of fascinating pictures and are full of interesting details about life in different times and places. But the best thing about her books are the stories: she takes you right into another world and you just can’t stop reading till you reach the end.

Charis writes books about real kids who had unusual childhoods: a three-year-old king, a baby queen, a seven-year-old concert pianist, a four-year-old mathematics whiz.

Lie with the Dalai Lama in his freezing bedroom at the top of a palace with 1,000 rooms as he listens to the mice running up and down his bed curtains. Ride headlong through the forest with Queen Christina, her dogs barking at her heels. Play house with Mary Queen of Scots as she makes marmalade in her toy kitchen and bounce with Buster Keaton across a New York stage. Feel the thrill as hundreds of fans scream for more as Stevie Wonder plays his harmonica.

The children she writes about are all extraordinary but they still have to struggle with everyday problems just like kids today. Their parents bug them, they get scared in the dark, and they fight with their brothers and sisters. But all along they know they have something bigger to do in the world, and they do their best to measure up to what is expected of them.