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Shakespeare Retold: A Gorgeously Illustrated Collection of Seven Plays for Young Readers
A beautifully illustrated collection of prose retellings of seven Shakespeare plays will bring the Bard to life for young readers. Not only is this a beautiful keepsake edition, full of gorgeous illustrations by Antonio Javier Caparo, but the prose retellings by beloved classic children’s book author E. Nesbit are an excellent tool to introduce children to the complex language of Shakespeare.
A foreword by John Lithgow touches on his own childhood as a Shakespearean actor and the importance of Shakespeare. The book contains extensive support materials, including a biography, a timeline of Shakespeare’s life, and further recommended readings.
In this volume, you will find:
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
Macbeth
The Tempest
Much Ado About Nothing
A foreword by John Lithgow touches on his own childhood as a Shakespearean actor and the importance of Shakespeare. The book contains extensive support materials, including a biography, a timeline of Shakespeare’s life, and further recommended readings.
In this volume, you will find:
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
Macbeth
The Tempest
Much Ado About Nothing
128 pages, Hardcover
First published October 18, 2016
32 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
E. Nesbit
1,042 books1,003 followers
Edith Nesbit
(married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later connected to the Labour Party.
Edith Nesbit was born in Kennington, Surrey, the daughter of agricultural chemist and schoolmaster John Collis Nesbit. The death of her father when she was four and the continuing ill health of her sister meant that Nesbit had a transitory childhood, her family moving across Europe in search of healthy climates only to return to England for financial reasons. Nesbit therefore spent her childhood attaining an education from whatever sources were available—local grammars, the occasional boarding school but mainly through reading.
At 17 her family finally settled in London and aged 19, Nesbit met Hubert Bland, a political activist and writer. They became lovers and when Nesbit found she was pregnant they became engaged, marrying in April 1880. After this scandalous (for Victorian society) beginning, the marriage would be an unconventional one. Initially, the couple lived separately—Nesbit with her family and Bland with his mother and her live-in companion Maggie Doran.
Initially, Edith Nesbit books were novels meant for adults, including The Prophet's Mantle (1885) and The Marden Mystery (1896) about the early days of the socialist movement. Written under the pen name of her third child 'Fabian Bland', these books were not successful. Nesbit generated an income for the family by lecturing around the country on socialism and through her journalism (she was editor of the Fabian Society's journal, Today).
In 1899 she had published The Adventures of the Treasure Seekers to great acclaim.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 23, 2018
E Nesbit wrote these stories for younger readers at the turn of the century. There are 7 stories in the collection that are 4-8 pages long.
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer night's dream
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
The Tempest
Much Ado About Nothing
These get across the meat of the story, but I really miss Shakespeare's verse and voice. It is a quick way to be reminded of the amazing story. This would be a good introduction for anyone interested in the stories. E. Nesbit does use a few quotes from the original to flavor this retelling.
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer night's dream
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
The Tempest
Much Ado About Nothing
These get across the meat of the story, but I really miss Shakespeare's verse and voice. It is a quick way to be reminded of the amazing story. This would be a good introduction for anyone interested in the stories. E. Nesbit does use a few quotes from the original to flavor this retelling.
December 7, 2018
Gorgeous illustrations and Shakespeare in kid-size bites. Totally support the many ways that younger kids can be introduced to Shakespeare before being confronted with the full-size editions. It is a challenge to summarize these complex plays, but I found that with some of the ones I love in this book some of my favorite chunks were left out. The comedy of Dogberry in "Much Ado", for example, and the cross gartering in "Twelfth Night."Overall, though, I do recommend it as one of multiple resources in the classroom to teach about Shakespeare and his works.
March 24, 2017
Every single page of this book was amazing!!! Brilliant!! :)))
April 3, 2017
After a day of visiting Shakespeare's house E. Nesbit took great joy in telling her children all about The Bard. As they were looking over a book of his famous plays, the children quickly became disillusioned after reading a few pages. The children had a hard time understanding the words that Shakespeare used. So, in an effort to help the children understand, she told the story of A Midsummer's Night's Dream in her own words, After she had finished telling the tale, the children were delighted. They encouraged Nesbit to write the story in her own words so that they might understand them better. And she did. Which is why we have the wonderful book: Shakespeare Retold.
I read this book to my children when they were younger. Not this edition, of course, but I wish it had been. This beautiful book has a forward from John Lithgow. He talks about his history with Shakespeare. He spent his summers around an outdoor festival where his father would produce Shakespeare's plays. The plays became the story of his childhood and no doubt influenced his desire to be an actor. In addition to John Lithgow's introduction, this book is also illustrated by the illustrious Antonio Javier Caparo, who has lent his talents to many other children's books. His illustrations make a wonderful addition to this book.
E. Nesbit has written many wonderful books for children. My favorite is The Railway Children. I can't imagine someone other than E. Nesbit writing these stories. She does a fantastic job making these plays accessible to the young. She writes in a plain, easy-to-understand style that children will understand. This book includes: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing. This book will expose children to Shakespeare's timeless plays and hopefully foster a lifelong love for The Bard. Shakespeare Retold is a treasure!
Read more at http://www.toreadornottoread.net/2017...
I read this book to my children when they were younger. Not this edition, of course, but I wish it had been. This beautiful book has a forward from John Lithgow. He talks about his history with Shakespeare. He spent his summers around an outdoor festival where his father would produce Shakespeare's plays. The plays became the story of his childhood and no doubt influenced his desire to be an actor. In addition to John Lithgow's introduction, this book is also illustrated by the illustrious Antonio Javier Caparo, who has lent his talents to many other children's books. His illustrations make a wonderful addition to this book.
E. Nesbit has written many wonderful books for children. My favorite is The Railway Children. I can't imagine someone other than E. Nesbit writing these stories. She does a fantastic job making these plays accessible to the young. She writes in a plain, easy-to-understand style that children will understand. This book includes: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing. This book will expose children to Shakespeare's timeless plays and hopefully foster a lifelong love for The Bard. Shakespeare Retold is a treasure!
Read more at http://www.toreadornottoread.net/2017...
October 7, 2018
So...E. Nesbit and her contemporary, have taken 7 of the most well-known Classics, and made them into readable kid-friendly stories. Secondly, the book features multiple pages for each story of beautiful very realistic illustrations, some of which are literally jaw-dropping stellar. That takes a lot for me to say about any book that features illustrations. Lastly, at the END of the book is not only Shakespeare's biography, BUT there is also a timeline of the Bards' life, AND, a basic overview (simple enough for most kids to understand) of all of the Bards' plays.
If you're trying to study for Shakespeare, introduce Shakespeare to kids as a teacher/librarian/parent, recommend a book to a homeschool parent, or look for a good introduction to Shakespeare's works, this is the one I'd pick...and I've read a LOT of these!
If you're trying to study for Shakespeare, introduce Shakespeare to kids as a teacher/librarian/parent, recommend a book to a homeschool parent, or look for a good introduction to Shakespeare's works, this is the one I'd pick...and I've read a LOT of these!
June 30, 2017
Nesbit, E. Shakespeare Retold, 115 pgs. HarperCollins, 2016. $19.99 Content: PG.
This book is a collection of a few of Shakespeare’s more popular plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest, and Much Ado about Nothing. Each of these plays is retold in a story format with the main characters and plot lines.
Each story is 3-4 pages with one big picture at the beginning and two smaller pictures interspersed throughout the text. At the back of the book there is a short biography about Shakespeare. The best part of this book was the pictures, the art was beautiful. I liked that the stories were only a couple of pages long and the author did a good job summarizing the plays. The pictures were so good I wish the illustrator would have made a few more.
EL, MS – OPTIONAL Reviewer, Isabelle, age 13.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
This book is a collection of a few of Shakespeare’s more popular plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest, and Much Ado about Nothing. Each of these plays is retold in a story format with the main characters and plot lines.
Each story is 3-4 pages with one big picture at the beginning and two smaller pictures interspersed throughout the text. At the back of the book there is a short biography about Shakespeare. The best part of this book was the pictures, the art was beautiful. I liked that the stories were only a couple of pages long and the author did a good job summarizing the plays. The pictures were so good I wish the illustrator would have made a few more.
EL, MS – OPTIONAL Reviewer, Isabelle, age 13.
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
June 9, 2017
This book is a fun children's book that adult reader's will also enjoy because it allows you to become more familiar with the story plot of Shakespheare's plays. Reading Shakesphere's work can be challenging...this book has some of Shakesphere's original sentence structure woven in with standard english making easier to read.
December 23, 2016
I thought the summaries were well-written, and the illustrations were nice too. My only complaint is that it only includes 7 of the plays.
February 2, 2017
I really enjoyed this book the pictures are fantastic
December 19, 2022
I think it's great to have these books directed at children but available for all when I am revisiting Shakespeare. These storified plot summaries are really great jumping off points for further study. What has been simplified or left out? What themes do they follow here? What applies to the present day and how could you use these core ideas to adapt something in the future... I also found the forward by John Lithgow to be heartwarming.
October 7, 2018
Beautiful edition. This has 7 tales included with full color illustrations. E. Nesbit tackles the difficult job of retelling Shakespeare’s plays for young people beautifully. It required quite a bit of explaining plot and characters for my 6 and 8 years olds, but it was doable. Would be great for 8+.
July 21, 2019
The text ranges from "just okay" to "I didn't like it at all" -- reading it felt like reading Cliff's Notes summaries, not engrossing stories for children. There is absolutely nothing left of Shakespeare in these words, except for the quotes at the beginning of each play.
The luminous illustrations and the resources at the end of the book are its redeeming qualities.
The luminous illustrations and the resources at the end of the book are its redeeming qualities.
April 4, 2018
Great introduction to Shakespeare and gives readers a good background of understanding before reading the original plays and stories. Wish I could find some things like this for other popular classics.
March 26, 2024
A perfect intro to Shakespeare, along with Nesbits' full audiobook. This was just right for my 1st grader, and a fun refresh on some favorites for my 7th grader. We will go on to Nesbits full work next year, then Lambs.
February 17, 2020
This book is exactly as the title says: a condensed version of 7 of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. They’re told in an easy-to-understand way with gorgeous illustrations!
February 6, 2022
Quite a good retelling of these seven plays, with a few very lovely illustrations. A good introduction for children. Hopefully it will make them want to read the real thing later.
April 10, 2022
Absolutely beautiful book!!! I might have to buy my own copy.
May 16, 2024
Great introduction to WmShakespeare and the book has a great introduction as well
December 4, 2022
I loved the pictures and enjoyed the short versions of Shakespeare's work. I also appreciated the biography included in the Kindle edition.
March 28, 2017
4.5 Stars
Quality Shakespeare for the kiddos
See my full review on YABooksCentral.com Top 100 Reviewer
http://www.yabookscentral.com/kbc-home/latest-kids-indie/discussions/review?id=38944
Quality Shakespeare for the kiddos
See my full review on YABooksCentral.com Top 100 Reviewer
http://www.yabookscentral.com/kbc-home/latest-kids-indie/discussions/review?id=38944
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews