Tales from Shakespeare

I'll say off the top I'm biased as I trained at Shakespeare & Company under Tina's direction. I teach all ages and still find this a fantastic prose version of the text. She is true to the elements of the story and helps articulate sometimes hidden motivations behind some of the character actions. I also really love that she doesn't dumb it down or "fix" the text. I have never had a kid not get the story after a reading of this book for whatever play I was working on at the time. The illustrations are fancy enough that my high schoolers don't feel like I'm reading them a baby book and the little ones just love the stories! Every theatre or english teacher who does Shakespeare should have this on their shelves.

I originally purchased this as paperback, read through it and fell in love. Then I misplaced it. I was so upset that I bought this hard cover version. The illustrations are reason enough, not to mention the simplified information on Shakespeare's works. When I found my paperback copy, I gave it to a friend who had borrowed it and loved it as much as I did. This is a wonderful introduction into the world of Shakespeare's plays, by explaining his plots and stories in a contemporary manner, Ms. Packer has truly taken the Fear out of comprehending Shakespeare.

Absolutely beautiful! Stunning illustrations and accessible retellings of Shakespeare's most beloved plays. An excellent early introduction for children and a wonderful edition for anyone who cherishes Shakespeare.

I was happy that there is something available for kids that would introduce them to Shakespeare. However, I still had to use my own words even for narrative. You really can't do much about Shakespeare's words and you would not want to, but the narrative and other explanations should have been made easier to read. They read more like narratives for operas with "dote", "sprite", "vowed", "disdainful", "enarmored", "braying", "loathsome" etc all over the place. My kids are under 10 and I was hoping that with my help they will enjoy the book. They did, but I had to really work on it.