On the other hand I'm going to give this a big out because I believe this was published as a kid's book

Point taken; there's only so much exposition you can put in a book for children, especially since the explanation for the current burnings would have demanded some more backstory about the Reformation in general and Henry VIII's divorce shenanigans etc.; given the focus of the novel was completely elsewhere, I suspect any editor would have said, yeah, no, skip it.