Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for a digital Advanced Readers Copy of the book.

I ended up loving this collection more than I had expected! I've read only a fair share of Shakespeare's plays in abridged form and even less in their original form because it's always harder and more time consuming to grasp the situations in Shakespearean English. But the adaptation of stories in this book is delightful but also straight forward. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed reading Shakespeare this much! Even though the target audience for this volume is clearly younger, the author does not beat around the bush with any of the principal themes in these plays. The character's motives and personalities come across clear as day. The layout is eye-catching and the illustrations are unique and very well complimenting. I loved the little portion at the end which gave a little background history on all the plays included!

A book that I believe can be enjoyed by adolescents and adults alike.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Really tough to read as an e-book. An interesting way to make Shakespeare accessible.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

This is a very child friendly book about the writing of Shakespeare. When I was in secondary school, we studied one his plays for a whole year, all written I old English - and it was fabulous but a bit of a challenge at times.
This book brings the plays of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, Midsummers Night Dream, Othello, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear and The Merchant of Venice within the sphere of young people.
Easy to read in simple language, beautifully illustrated and with some explanation, this book brings a mixture of the tragedies and comedies to both young and old in a language that is easy to read.

This was a fun edition to add to our homeschool's Shakespeare study. The book included all of the greats but in a way that the children could understand so they could appreciate the writing. The illustrations added to the fun as well. I hope there will be more great works written in this form.

Thank you NetGalley and Angela McAllister for the opportunity yo read this as an advanced copy. I was given an advanced copy in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own and a positive review was not required.

The Bard for kids.
Each play gets a title page, with a famous quote and a mishmash of artwork that shows some of the important points. That’s followed by a small cast of characters, and finally an illustrated text that boils the story down to its essential elements, just enough to know what’s going on.
The easiest way to describe this for Bard buffs is that it’s similar to the Lambs’ book of synopses, only for children. And it’s illustrated like a kiddie version of the Canterbury Tales.
The illustrations are more basic than the words.
The Tempest and Twelfth Night were my faves here.
Not all the plays are here, but that’s no surprise; only twelve, mostly the famous ones.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

As a big shakespeare fan I'm very excited that this came out. I like how it simplifies some of Shakespeares popular plays and is a variety of plays as well. The illustrations are beautiful and it is a good way to introduce children to classics in a fun and exciting new way.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read the ARC of A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister. I voluntarily read and reviewed this advanced copy; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm so glad that I received an ARC for A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories. For some time now I've wanted to read Shakespeare's work but was always held back due to the difficult language. This is a brilliant introduction to some of Shakespeare's work, the tone is more simple and understandable for a younger audience. Something I admire about this book is that it doesn't shy away from the original topics as murder, betrayal and death, as one might do while writing for a younger audience.

While I was familiar with a few stories, like Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing, and found those most enjoyable, I also enjoyed getting to discover some new ones for me like Othello and Twelfth Night.

If you haven't read any Shakespeare yet, found the originals plays difficult to read or if you absolutely love Shakespeare, then I highly recommend A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllistar. Oh and by the way.... the illustrations by Alice Lindstrom are simply beautiful!

Angela McAllister provides an accessible, approachable Shakespeare for younger audiences and for all those who stayed away from the bard for any number of reasons. She writes in straight-forward, clear, contemporary English that make it easy to understand for the intended target audience of 7 – 10 year olds (and even older!).

The plays start off with a quote from the bard accompanied by a cover-page illustration for the play. A pictorial depiction of the main characters that includes a briefest of introductions to them follows and the story itself takes about six pages to tell. Each story is accompanied by about four to five vibrant, collage-style illustrations that capture the feel of the story perfectly (and lend to the tale by doing so).a stage full of shakespeare stories as you like it

What I loved:
The variety of tales included in the book – the book includes my favorite tale – Twelfth Night, as well as stories like Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing among others.
The essence of each story retained in this version for kids without glossing over the harsher events that occur, and within six pages!
The inclusion of original lines in betwixt the text seamlessly, like, in the ‘Twelfth Night’ – ‘If music be the food of love, play on’


The fact that it proves its point – being accessible for the younger audiences – so well. My tween dd attested to this fact!
It also includes sections with information about Shakespeare and a brief introduction to the plays included in the book, as well as a complete play list, which make for informational and fun reading.
The gorgeous illustrations – I loved the color, the collage-style work, and am sure that younger audiences will truly enjoy this artwork. It seems like just the right amount of illustrations for this age-group making a transition from picture books to chapter books.
In Summary:
While the beauty of the bard’s original works is lost in a simplified version such as this, the book provides the magic of his plots and the introduction to what could be when young readers read the bard himself. This will make a great gift to all of those who love to read, to those who are reluctant to read Shakespeare, and also to those who love Shakespeare, and also to introduce the bard to just about any and all audiences (young and old)!

Rating: A
Reading Level: 6+
Reread Level: 4/5

Disclaimer: Thank You #NetGalley for the DRC of this book; a physical copy of which will be making its way into my home library soon!. The opinions are my own.

A beautifully illustrated book and great telling of Shakespeare's plays. This is a great introduction for younger readers, or readers of all ages, in to Shakespeare's world. As a lover of Shakespeare, sometimes it's hard to get lost in the language when you're trying to decipher just what exactly was said. This edition brings to life those key moments in each story. I enjoyed the added history snippet at the end too, giving more color around each play for readers.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories is worth purchasing for the beautiful illustrations alone, yet the book is so much more than the art. The book contains twelve Shakespeare plays, a mix of tragedies (e.g., Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth) and comedies (e.g., As You Like It and Much Ado about Nothing). These are written for children aged five and up but contain quotes from the original plays including many of the most famous lines, and is a wonderful way to introduce young readers to the world of Shakespeare. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only read the Shakespeare assigned in high school and college and only seen a handful of his plays performed live, so reading these stories allowed me to acquaint myself with the basic plot and characters of some of his most famous work.

A benefit of having brief versions of a range of Shakespeare’s plays is that it’s possible to see easily the recurring themes--jealousy, betrayal--and devices--mistaken identity, crossdressing, manipulation-- he used. Freed from the stress of reading SHAKESPEARE, I enjoyed the stories more and saw the humor more clearly.

The design of the book is phenomenal. Each story begins with a double page spread, the left side with a quote from the play, the right side with a title page beautifully illustrated. Most of the colors used are deep jewel tones, though each story seems to have a uniquely themed hue. On the next page appears a cast of characters and a brief explanation of their position or key family relationships. My only complaint is that the text is small and dense, though that may be an artifact of my aging eyes rather than an objective issue.

This book makes Shakespeare fun for young and old readers alike, and I highly recommend it for your library!

Beautiful introduction to Shakespeare's stories. Accessible and especially good for reading aloud to children!

This is a beautiful book. Written well in a way that can be understood readily but keeps the tone of Shakespeare alive. Easily readable by children and young people and that beautiful illustrations help to bring the stories alive.

I wish this has been around when I was younger!

This book should be required reading for junior high students. It would be so helpful to understanding the actual Shakespeare books. It tells the tales of 12 famous Shakespeare books and are written in easy readable English with some nice pictures. I was never a big fan of Shakespeare and as I read this book it became clear that the actual books are pretty good with this background. Good for adults also that want to broaden their classic levels but were afraid to try. Wonderful gift for young and older readers. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Shakespeare non è un classico: è prima di tutto una miniera di storie, personaggi, vicende, modi di dire entrati  far parte del patrimonio culturale occidentale e non.

Lo ricorda questo bel volume, che con racconti brevi e brillanti e illustrazioni coloratissime introduce i bambini al multiforme, variabile mondo del genio inglese.

Fate e folletti, maghi e principi, innamorati felici, innamorati infelici, asini, streghe, fantasmi, tradimenti, figlie devote, re pazzi, principi dubbiosi si susseguono in queste pagine, in un rutilare di avventure comiche e tragiche che può solo incuriosire i più piccoli, e prepararli a conoscere gli originali in futuro.

Beautifully adapted! Each short story comes with wonderful and whimsical illustrations that open Shakespearean literature to a whole new generation.

What a beautiful children's book! A great way to introduce kids to the works of Shakespeare!

The stories are all very richly illustrated and each one has a great introduction page, showing and explaining who the various characters are, as well as presenting the young reader with a well-chosen quote from each story. I loved it!

The author did a great job at simplifying the stories enough so that children can easily understand them, at the same time staying true to Shakespeare's voice, especially in the dialogues. I also liked that she alternated the heavier dramatic plays with the lighter and more romantic comedies.

The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful. I love the different techniques the designer used to color in the drawings. Sometimes they look like they were painted in with broad brushstrokes and other times we get a kind of 3d effect with leaves or other small decorative elements seemingly being cut out of paper and pasted on top of the artwork. There's so much to discover in them!

Ok, so I should start by admitting that I'm a very lazy and impatient reader. My job requires me to spend my days puzzling out and correcting very confusing writing, so when it comes to my pleasure reading, I don't tend to seek out challenging material for the sake of the challenge; I want to be entertained with minimal effort on my part. As such, reading the antiquated language used by Shakespeare is not something I tend to think of as enjoyable. I did not like it when I was forced to read a few of his plays in high school, and I have carefully avoided any other of the Bard's work in its original form ever since.

But when I saw the gorgeous cover of A Stage Full of Shakespeare and read the blurb that touts "...this beautiful anthology of stories from Shakespeare, rewritten to be accessible to children aged 5+," I thought I might have found a relatively painless way to up my Shakespeare game. I like picture books, and if this is accessible for a first-grader, then this should be easy-peasy for me, right? Well, as it turns out, maybe not. Although I liked some aspects of this book, for the most part this was an uneven miss for me.

As the book began, I was actually kind of disappointed with the illustrations. They weren't the rich and detailed images I was expecting based on the cover. Instead, I thought some of the pages were almost cartoonish, and many looked like crude drawings instead of the collages they were. It wasn't until I was well into the book that I could see the collage aspect more clearly and appreciated some of the illustrations more.

This anthology includes 12 of Shakespeare's best known works, and each begins with a page highlighting the important characters in that work with a brief description of who they are in relation to each other. I quite liked those pages and found myself wishing there were more helpful hints like that on the other pages.

For the most part the language is fairly straightforward, but since these are simplified versions of the stories, there are some details missing. As I'm not familiar with much Shakespeare at all, I was left scratching my head about what was going on some of the time, and I would have loved some extra explanations for certain aspects. Some sidebar features like "important history facts" or "vocabulary helper" or "phrases that originated with Shakespeare" would have helped me a great deal. I suspect these stories will work well for someone who is already familiar with the plays, but if you don't know the details, some of the ideas are pretty confusing.

I think this book will be welcomed by existing fans of Shakespeare and by young readers who do not ask too many questions about every aspect of a story. Although I question whether many 5 to 7-year-olds would be willing to listen to this book without demanding more details, those who are willing to just absorb what they're hearing and allow inference to fill in the blanks will probably think it's pretty good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for providing me with a DRC of this book.

The first time I ever appeared in a Shakespeare production (a double bill of Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream) I was eight, and by the time I was eleven I’d been made to read full Shakespeare plays to prepare for performances. I’m not sure how much of it I actually understood at the time, but I’m happy to see so many “Shakespeare for younger readers” titles coming out these days!
A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories is another good addition to the genre, and the illustrations are atmospheric and help to bring the stories alive.
Recommended as an introduction to The Bard’s work for younger readers.

A great way to have an intermediate introduction to Shakespeare, more accessible text, but much more of the story is present than in picture book adaptations. I’ve seen the physical copy and the binding and printing is lovely. It’s a really nice book.

At the heart of Shakespeare's crafted and poetic prose (translation: hard to understand fully with our modern ears) are deeply human stories. They shouldn't be off limits just because they take background knowledge and practice to understand in their original form. And now they're not!

This is a delightful anthology of Shakespeare's greatest plays, written in a more comprehensible language and format for ages five and up to enjoy. There are many ways I could see this working: a read aloud at home or in the classroom for younger readers, a read aloud or study text for students who are about to undertake the original Shakespeare text and need to build background knowledge, or a text for reader's theatre. While it is not in script form, as long as all actors have access to the text, they can follow along and read their dialogue parts after the narrator's turn.

Great works of literature should be enjoyed. This doesn't "dumb it down," it makes it comprehensible to readers who don't currently have the background knowledge to understand the original text. This work still uses high level syntax and vocabulary; it certainly maintained quality while putting it at a more accessible level.

I would recommend this as a teacher, a mom, and an English major! Also, the artist in me enjoyed the illustrations.