The Shakespeare Stories Collection - 16 Books Unknown Binding – January 1, 2010

I absolutely love them! I bought this set to create party favors for my 5th grader’s birthday party.ast year we did little pouches with mixed chocolate rocks in them, and it was beautiful and a great success. This year we needed party favors for 15 kids, and I wanted to prepare something that would be memorable and useful and cheap, of course! So I decided that our party favors will be...Shakespeare books! I also ordered here on Amazon clear cello bags for $8 a set of 100 or 200 - I don’t even remember, and I have enough ribbon an colorful paper to write little “thank you” notes. These books are perfect: they have colorful glossy covers, I’ll just put each of them into the cello bag, add the “thank you for coming to my party” note from my kid, and tie the bags with ribbons! They look just the way a cute party favor is expected to look. And the content - it’s Shakespeare, retold specifically for kids, which excites me a lot! Kids will be able to get familiar with Shakespeare!!! The black and white illustrations are full of humor that is just right for pre-teens (although some parents here in the reviews are freaking out. But hey - there is HBO in this world that kids are exposed to lol, and Shakespeare’s stories have it all - sex, violence and other “rock-n-roll”)! So, I think these books are such a great idea to introduce kids to Shakespeare, for a gift or as party favors!Here, I took photos, because there are not enough photos on this books set page, and I myself wasn’t sure what to expect. So these photos are for you guys:)!

The books arrived in a such a short time that we were surprised - it was an international order. Very nice collection. The stories are really short and easy to read. We have so far read 2 of the books with my son, exchanged the books and discussed about them, and will continue to do so. There seems to be no exact quotations from Shakespeare (Maybe I am mistaken, because I have not read them all yet.): That I was wondering before my order. It would have been very nice to have at least 2-6 lines in each story where the original text was quoted. Still, the narrative carries its original complexity in terms that one is guided to think about and discuss all the complex and layered relations, ethical questions the original texts would provide. It is a wonderful beginning for early readers.

My granddaughter became interested in Shakespeare in 3rd grade and I looked for a series that would be compatible for her age. These books are wonderful and comprehensible for her age group. She loves them. I am thrilled with my purchase! I hope this helps someone else searching for that same product.

I love these books for my elementary school kids. I love that it pre-exposes them to the stories so they can actually understand them when they read them in HS or college. lol!

This is a great introduction to Shakespeare for kids! We bought this set right here on Amazon - great price for a collection of books like this. They tell the original stories in an easy to understand format for kids, which will give them a much better understanding of the originals as they get older. I had third and fourth graders reading the stories, and they enjoyed them very much. They were especially pleased with themselves for being able to say that they had read a Shakespeare story and be able to discuss the basic plots of these classics with their parents or other adults. The only reason I did not give a five star review is that the illustrations can be a little strange. Especially in the tragedies, one third grader describe the pictures as "super creepy". Most kids will be fine with them, but you might be aware if you have a more sensitive viewer picking up the books.I would love to see more sets like this for other classic authors - Jane Austen perhaps? :-)

I am using this set as part of the homeschool curriculum for my 4 children, ages 6, 8, 11, and 12. All my kids were internationally adopted and have "special needs", including, in some cases, learning disabilities and language disorders. So far, these simplified Shakespearean plays have been a huge hit. The author catches the main plot points, themes, ironies, and character development of the original plays, but in an accessible way. Yes, I do have to provide a lot of context and explanations to my particular children, but these books are still carrying a lot of the teaching weight. The author uses rich language, which has helped me teach new vocabulary and demonstrate good writing techniques to my kids. I'm very pleased with this purchase!

This series is absolutely amazing. Shakespeare’s works are classics but the language of the time makes his plays challenging to enjoy for modern audiences. These small books are well illustrated, use straightforward language, but still manage to preserve the timeless themes of the Bard’s classics.We read these at dinner time with our children weekly. It is astounding how many themes in popular culture are derivative of these great works.

This is a gift for my grandson as his parents are members of a Shakespeare club.My son loves the books & has started reading them to his son.Very fast delivery.

As an educator, I’ve used this book set many times with students who require a modified curriculum. Each novella provides the important info of each Shakespeare story, but in an easy to understand language. It’s also a great introduction for young ones who love to read, and want a sample of Shakespeare. Great addition to any home/classroom library.

I wish these books had been available when I was a child.They are a brilliant introduction into the works of William Shakespeare and my daughter who is nine years old absolutely loves them. They are wonderfully illustrated and the famous Shakespeare stories are abridged into an easily digestible way.For example King Lear is brilliantly explained and made fun so that any child who wants to know more about Shakespeare's works can read them and get the gist. Highly recommended.

Kids loving it. Illustration are also excellent. Perfect for gifting. Definitely ordering this as gift this for the next birthday party invite.

Pas si facile que ça de faire lire Shakespeare aux plus jeunes. Il y faut le plus souvent une médiation. Andrew Matthews et Tony Ross s'y sont essayés su 15 pièces, avec un réel bonheur. Ils n'ont pas été jusqu'à se frotter à Hamlet, ce qu'on peut comprendre. Les dessins de Tony Ross sont un vrai bonheur. A quand une traduction en français ?

So this was supposed to be for the kids, but the adults in the house have been reading these as well as they are great summaries to brush up on the Shakespeare stories and thus general culture. Cool Roald Dhal-esque illustrations as well. The whole family has had so much fun with these, I wish there were more classics in this series!