The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

by Margaret Early

A prose retelling of Shakespeare's drama in which young lovers attempt to defy fate

Genres: Picture Books, Shakespeare

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Margert Early (1951- ) is an Australian artist and book illustrator. Born in the New England region of New South Wales, she was educated at the New England Girl’s School; Sydney University (BA); the Shillito Design School (diploma); and at St Martin’s School of Art in London (post-graduate diploma). She was married to the Irish artist Michael Farrell, and has lived for many years in France, in the village of her Huguenot ancestors. She has published six children's books, originally through the Walter McVitty publishing house in Australia, and through Harry N. Abrams in the USA. Since 1976, her paintings, done in a medieval style, have been included in numerous group exhibitions, and she has also had many individual exhibitions, most recently at the Robin Gibson Gallery in Sydney.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Australian expatriate artist Margaret Early, whose other picture-books include William Tell , Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty , here turns to the great Bard of Avon, producing a children's retelling of his classic play, Romeo and Juliet . The story itself, in which two star-crossed lovers marry secretly, because their respective families are long-time enemies, requires little description. Early's retelling is in prose, but quotes from the play fairly frequently. It is paired with full-page illustrations - the text is given on the left-hand side of every two-page spread, the artwork on the right - in her own medieval style...

This is the third picture-book I have read from Early, following upon her William Tell , and upon Walter McVitty's Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , which she illustrated. I enjoyed it, and found her retelling quite engaging. The artwork is lovely, although in a very different style to the more popular illustrative trends right now, in the world of picture-books. It is somewhat flat looking, and has the feeling sometimes of a tapestry. There are lovely decorative borders, and the artist makes use of a rich gold tone, in addition to her other colors. According to her brief afterword, she based many of her scenes upon sketches she did in Verona, as well as in other medieval European cities. All in all, the style was appealing to me, with a medieval sensibility that suits the story. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-book adaptations of Shakespeare, although the text-heavy nature of this one means the audience will probably need to be somewhat older (perhaps seven and above?) and have a good attention span.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a picture book that depicts the story of Romeo and Juliet for smaller children. It is the traditional story about how Romeo and Juliet fall in love, but are forbidden to see each other and then eventually die because they are blinded by such love. This book is in the genre of traditional literature and picture books and it is for ages 11-13 because it does have some lengthy content. I rated this book two stars because I am not a huge fan of the sad ending this book has, but overall this children's book did a nice job of depicting the story on simpler terms. Some common themes in this book are love, separation, and destiny.

[Liz Meschewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This famous traditional literature book is about a boy named Romeo who falls in love with a girl named Juliet. However, their love is forbidden because their families are enemies. This isn't a happy ending like other fairy tales or traditional literatures end up to be. I believe this book is best suited for middle schoolers. At this age you begin to learn about Shakespeare in school and begin going over the plays he has written. I've always loved the story of Romeo and Juliet and it was great to see it in a children's book with great illustrations.

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, Romeo and Juliet, is about two lovers who are from to different family names that don't entirely get along. The themes of this book are love, family, death, sacrifice, and royalty. The genres of this book are traditional literature, picture books, and the grade is fifth to eighth grade. I gave this book a 3 out of 5 because I do love this classic, but the ending is not my favorite outcome.

[Clare K. R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found both the rewording of Shakespeare and the art awkward, and tossed the book aside when the punctuation indicated what "wherefore" meant "where" instead of "why."