Shakespeare for Children: The Story of Romeo and Juliet

by Cass Foster

Adults shouldn't keep a classic this good to themselves. This fully illustrated book makes the play easily understandable to young readers, yet it is faithful to the spirit of the original. A Benjamin... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 096198533X
• ISBN13: 9780961985332
• Release Date: November 1989
• Publisher: Five Star Publications, Inc. (AZ)
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Opens the door to the world of Shakespeare

Cass Foster wrote Shakespeare for Children: The Story of Romeo and Juliet for two specific audiences: for adults to read to a child and for children to read independently. To that end, Foster cleverly has simplified the story of Romeo and Juliet as a picture book to be presented to little ones. And indeed Shakespeare for Children successfully provides a gateway for children to enter the realm of William Shakespeare. As they get older, they may choose to move on to Foster's series, Sixty-Minute Shakespeare. And from there Foster encourages readers to seek out the unabridged text to enjoy Bard's words in their original form. In considering Foster's other work on Shakespeare, To Teach or Not to Teach: Teaching Shakespeare Made Fun!, the author achieves his goal of establishing and nourishing an early love of Shakespeare in children in a failsafe environment full of pleasure and praise. He advices adult readers, "The most important consideration is that reading (or being read to) should be an enjoyable experience. I certainly hope you and the child enjoy what lies ahead." In Shakespeare for Children, Foster artfully mixes Shakespeare's original language with clear, succinct narration in order to tell the story in a compelling way while preserving the beauty of Shakspeare's pen. On nearly every page, Foster provides definitions for words used uncommonly today. The text is spaced amply with relatively few lines on each page in a way that won't overwhelm a young child. There are frequent, large illustrations in the style of a coloring book that some children won't be able to resist coloring in (and shouldn't!). Foster devotes additional pages to the more dramatic and story-driven acts of the play, while other of the acts are summed up in one or two lines from the play supplemented by brief narration. In this way, Foster successfully hones down the story to the barest bones in order to keep the attention of young children without overly compromising the art of Shakespeare's work. At the end of the book, twenty open-ended discussion questions promote readers to delve deeper into topics brought up by the story. Rather than typical comprehension questions that simply ask children to recall details from the book, Foster's questions spur readers to formulate opinions and apply lessons learned from the book to their own lives. For example, one questions asks, "What sort of things wouldn't you do, even if your friends wanted you to?" In the Author's Note, Foster advices, "These questions are excellent opportunities to praise [children] for their cleverness, insight, imagination, expanded vocabulary, improved reading skills and ability to express themselves." Without a doubt, Foster has an impressive ability to open up the world of Shakespeare to children. One hopes that Shakespeare for Children will become to young readers what Sixty-Minute Shakespeare is to the older set. However, if I could ask Foster one question, it would be why he chose "Romeo and Ju

..this is an excellent adaptation of a famous Shakespeare play aimed at elementary-aged children (or

Reviewed By: Jean Hall - Eclectic Homeschool Online While I tend to avoid abridged versions of the classics, I am happy to report that this is an excellent adaptation of a famous Shakespeare play aimed at elementary-aged children (or younger!) and their parents. Large print for easy reading and pictures of scenes on most of the facing pages help to make this famous work accessible to younger readers. The illustrations are carefully drawn, showing details of period costume, while retaining the charming simplicity of coloring pages. Although this is an "edited" version, it is by no means "dumbed-down" or modernized. The author has taken pains to preserve the beauty and poetry of the Bard's original language. Simple, but clear, prose descriptions explain the action taking place in each scene and unusual word usage is explained in footnotes. This book could be used in several ways: the parent reads to the child or the child reads the book, different family members take on parts and act out the play, or small children color the pictures while hearing the story. Discussion questions at the end of the book are designed to explore the themes in this work that transcend time and place and help make the play relevant to a modern child's life and times. Altogether this is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare and a spring-board to further study.

Shakespeare for Children: The Story of Romeo and Juliet

By judicious selection of the necessary text, he abbreviates the play without destroying it. And he does it without changing language at all.might this be the start of a new Renaissance in children's literature?" -Louise Marder, Ph.D., Editor of The Shakespeare Newsletter and C.E.O. of The Shakespeare Data Bank

Shakespeare for Children

"Through judicious editing, the interpolation of descriptive passages and footnoted definitions, and through the use of lushly romantic illustrations, he has found the perfect complements to Shakespeare's own words." -Resources For Historical Theatre