Shakespeare Stories King Lear

Shakespeare Stories #26

by Andrew Matthews, Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Foolish and bad-tempered, King Lear divides the kingdom between his two wicked daughters, disowns his honest youngest daughter and banishes his friends. As the kingdom falls apart and Lear's humiliation turns him mad, will he finally realise what he has done? With Notes on Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre and Chaos and Old Age in King Lear.

Genres: Shakespeare, Classics, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Andrew Matthews was born in South Glamorgan in 1948. Andrew taught English in Hampshire after which he became a full-time writer. He lives in Reading with his wife and their cats. Andrew's work has been widely translated and he has made numerous appearances at schools and libraries throughout the UK.


Source: United Agents.

Reviews

[Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to finish my reading challenge and found these mini shakespeare books in my room

biggest takeaway: don’t trust your two evil daughters or a random illegitimate son who you haven’t seen in a billion years over your one faithful child. otherwise they may put you in a retirement home and you will die of a broken heart

[Lorena saraniero · Rating 3 out of 5]

das ende eines shakespeare plays ist jedes mal einfach das alle sterben

[maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

cool draweings

[sasha? · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya know, in addition to telling my sisters' bedtime stories about the rise of the Khmer Rouge's Cambodia under Pol Pot, might throw this into the mix. Will report back post-eye gouging.

[Hitesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Later

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a little bit boring I must say

[The Library Mouse Tales · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: King Lear of Britain is old and foolish. He decides to divide his kingdom between his daughters. He shares it between the two selfish daughters who flatter him but banishes the third honest one who actually loves him and all his friends. His eldest daughters both then reject him. His kingdom destroyed, King Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle. King Lear, all his daughters and many soldiers die.

This is a retelling of Shakespeare’s play about family, loyalty, old age, madness and power. Maybe not the best choice if you want a cheerful bedtime story!

This book was one from a boxed set of 16 books. I recommend them as quick and easy Shakespeare reads for children or for older readers who want a basic version of the original play.

They are specially written for younger readers with simple language rather than Shakespeare’s original words. There are also lots of black and white sketches that illustrate the story and help you understand the plot. It also has useful notes about Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre and the themes that are explored in the play.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to read more Shakespeare's but didn't know where to start so I bought the kids versions of his works. They are easy to understand and have some nice illustrations to look at, plus the covers are in my opinion so cute. I'm not sure weather I liked King Lear or not...

[MiR · Rating 3 out of 5]

"بهتر بود هرگز به دنیا نمی آمدی تا این گونه مرا به خشم آوری" شاه لیر گفت
.
.
خارج از بحث تراژدی بودن این اثر ، بیشتر به مبحثِ یک فرد سالمند میپردازه که با وجود شکوه و عظمتی که در زمان جوانی خود داشت پس از گذر عمر و رها کردن مقام پادشاهی به هیچ پیوسته بود و ما جنون این مساله رو میدیدیم.

[MAK KA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was talk about a foolish King in British banished his daughter and his friend. I think this nothing special and normal. Don't have something special so boring.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are good for getting a quick overview of the plot of a Shakespeare play, I also have "Othello" and "Hamlet" from the same series.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ruler decides to split his kingdom between his family.

A good story which highlighted many different themes, but this version / re-telling was a bit short.

Reading time around thirty minutes.

[Mysha.XOXO😇 Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen... I am only 10 years old and I am in year 6 at school.I love to read.I would recommend you to read this book because it has a fantastic twist in the middle of the story.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing is my preferate and I got 20/20 of the presentation of this book

[C.J. Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's shortened shakespeare and the pictures are funny

[Kyra James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a quick fix for an assignment so I didn't have to read the full book. Very good, had all the key points

[Issie Aris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter chaos. Too many characters and none of them made any sense. Arguing stupidly and too entitled. I’ll stick to Hamlet.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Shakespeare's King Lear in college and don't remember it at all, but because of this version I want to read it again! Now I get the themes, it will be so much richer!

[Samanta Wiatrowska · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this entire book. the charaters. The storyline. Plot. Setting. Everything.

[clio · Rating 3 out of 5]

for lit uni class

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that people make this kind of summary for Shakepeare's works, otherwise it will be very difficult for ESL readers to approach them. And even in this summary sometimes we face difficulties with infamiliar word choices. However i do enjoy reading this one as well as getting to know the depth of his works / his mind. Will definitely read this again and recommend it to my daughter who is 11 years old.

[Jodie Boast · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not the best Shakespeare play.

[Meghan Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good simple read for 4th-6th graders.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fun to read but it isn't anything special! I think these have lost their magic for me unfortunately.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of betrayal, foolishness and cruelty King Lear is a tragedy of Shakespeare's. King Lear is old and plans to split his kingdom between his 3 daughters. The richest part to the one who loves him most. His eldest daughters Goneril and Regan are wicked and selfish. They make up lies of their love for their father while the youngest Cordelia tells the truth.......and is therefore banished and disowned by her father while her sisters get the kingdom and he banishes his friend when he tries to reason with him. Believing what his daughters say he visits them after he gives up the crown but is shocked to find that they are really cruel and cold. The Earl of Gloucester's illegitimate son Edmund betrays him after he forgers his half brother Edgar's handwriting in a note that he shows his father that says his brother is planning to kill their dad. Chaos unfolds in the kingdom. In the end everyone realises their mistakes and suffer the consequences including the loss of their loved ones. The notes at the back explain more. It's true that order is restored but at a terrible cost and that evil destroys itself. I really enjoyed this book another of William Shakespeare's finest. Sara ;)

[Haruka Sakai · Rating 3 out of 5]

penguin active reading, level 3
80min.
true love, father, lies, land, death, poor, attack
1. If your father give you all his money, what will you do for your father?
I will do anything he will be happy.

2. Are you able to tell the truth, if you tell the truth, you won't get any benefits.
I won't. I will lie and get welth.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant retelling of one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. You get all of the important parts of th plot in this story, including some of the great lines. I'm using Andrew Matthews' books as a way for me to summarise the plays for my revision, and what an enjoyable way to do it.

[Darshna Rekha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Something was not right with the ending 🤔 Need to red the actual one

[Flora Hillage]

It was very confusing, don't read unless you want to waste your evening working out the plot.