Netgalley Review – Poetry for Kids: William Shakespeare

Poetry for Kids: William Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare, Marguerite Tassi

Quarto Publishing Group – MoonDance Press

 Moondance Press

Children’s Nonfiction , Poetry

Love! Betrayal! Ambition! Tragedy! Jealousy! Williams Shakespeare’s universal themes continue to resonate with readers of all ages more than 400 years after his death.

This wonderful, fully illustrated book introduces children to the Bard and 35 of his most famous and accessible verses, sonnets, and speeches. From “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” to “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!” and “All the world’s a stage,” the words of the greatest playwright and poet spring to life on the page.

The next generation of readers, poets, and actors will be entranced by these works of Shakespeare. Each poem is illustrated and includes an explanation by an expert and definitions of important words to give kids and parents the fullest explanation of their content and impact.

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I received an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

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4 Stars

I thought this was a great little selection. Definitely a good Shakespeare starter pack. I really loved the watercolor illustrations throughout, and the footnotes that explain the more difficult words/phrases for readers would definitely help kids.

I think calling this for kids a a bit of a stretch though, because I’d say there isn’t much that makes Shakespeare easy for younger kids beyond the Wishbone books, these aren’t modern english translations, so its probably great for older kinds, maybe 10+ at the youngest, or even I think for my age, high school age students could probably benefit from this.

I think it a good selection of his most famous sonnets and monologues, and a good way to expose kids to Shakespeare in a way less intimidating than a full play. Its fun to see just how many common phrases, even ones kids know like “double double toil and trouble” come from Shakespeare.