Shakespeare Stories for Children - A Review
Shakespeare for Education or Just for Fun
Twelve of Shakespeare’s most popular works have been reproduced by the team of Andrew Matthews (author) and Tony Ross (illustrator) into a series of individual stories, based on the original plays. The language is accessible for young children and, indeed, the guide age range for the books is 7-11 years, a perfect age to introduce children to the enduring stories of Shakespeare and instil a love of, not only Shakespeare, but of performance works generally.
The Series
The individual plays, which have been retold as stories in this series, have their origin in the Orchard Book of Shakespeare Stories, where they can be found as a collection. The individual books are 32-page paperbacks, ranging from the Tragedies, through the History plays to the Comedies, and are easy for small hands to hold. They, therefore, may not be as intimidating as a huge doorstep of plays to someone new to one of the most ingenious playwrights the world has ever seen.
A full list of titles available from Orchard Books is as follows:
Hamlet (2003, ISBN 978-1841213408)
Macbeth (2003, ISBN 978-1841213446)
Othello (2007, ISBN 978-1846161841)
Romeo and Juliet (2003, ISBN 978-1841213361)
Antony and Cleopatra (2003, ISBN 978-1841213385)
The Tempest (2003, ISBN 978-1841213460)
Much Ado About Nothing (2007, ISBN 978-1846161834)
Richard III (2007, ISBN 978-1846161858)
Henry V (2003, ISBN 978-1841213422)
As You Like It (2007, ISBN 978-1846161872)
Twelfth Night (2003, ISBN 978-1841213347)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2003, ISBN 978-1841213323)
The Books - Text, Picture and Information
Andrew Matthews has retold each story in easy, accessible language for young readers, and has interpreted the play in a way which makes Shakespeare’s complex plotting easy to follow for little ones. The text is supported by the black and white illustrations of Tony Ross, which express the characters of the plays in engaging fashion, and provide the young reader with humorous additional support for the understanding of the stories.
Notes are also included in each book, which are relevant to the specific play and its themes. For example, the supplementary notes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream discuss the themes of love and magic within the plot. The Globe Theatre is also discussed, giving important background information to contextualise the stories of Shakespeare, which is interesting in itself, but of particular interest to adults, particularly teachers, who wish to convey the historical background of the works of Shakespeare in a simplified way to young children.
For Educating Children
The National Curriculum in England specifies the teaching of two Shakespeare plays for Key Stages 3 and 4, as part of English Literary Heritage. The study of Shakespeare is also optional at Key Stage 2, but has to be one of the most worthwhile and enduring texts any young child could possibly study. These Shakespeare Stories provide a way in to studying and understanding Shakespeare, whilst enjoying a really good story. This, of course, can lead to a development of a love of Shakespeare which will last a lifetime. How could any teacher deny pupils the opportunity of introducing children to Shakespeare?
The supplementary notes can act as an aid to busy teachers, and those less familiar with Shakespeare, in order to provide a focus to class discussions and subsequent work, including history-linked projects and art-based tasks, as well as more obvious creative writing possibilities, such as writing from the viewpoint of a specific character.
If you are looking for individual books which are easy for young children to hold and engaging to read and look at, while they begin to gain an understanding and appreciation for a superb playwright, then you will not go far wrong with books from the Shakespeare Stories series. Accessibility to Shakespeare is the key to building a strong appreciation of his work and this series allows just that. Develop a love of the stories first; work on the texts in their full format later in life. Surely, instilling a love of great stories is the most important factor in creating literate children?
