I love what they did with the stories by making them kid friendly. They are pretty condensed and anything too graphic or scary was removed. I enjoyed them as nice little refreshers of the full-length plays. They are basically little synopses, which I was kind of hoping for a little more depth in them. They were almost too simplified in parts.

As a sixth grade english teacher, I could see myself using these stories with a few of my students. I was hoping for a little more illustrations because of how simplified the text is.

Very kid friendly!

I'm between a 3 and a 4 for this one so I think I'll go with a 3.5 rounded down. The reason I'm rounding down is because although these stories do a good job of summarizing for the younger audience, they leave out some key elements and characters.

I will admit that I totally used my 10 year-old son as a guinea pig for this book. I was recently cast as Helena in a local production of Midsummer and I'd really like him to see it, so I figured I'd use this book's version to lay some groundwork for when he sees it. He ended up really enjoying it and understood it easily, which is why I'd want to give it 4 stars. On the other hand, it changed some little things such as Titania and Oberon fighting over an amulet instead of a little changeling boy and it rarely mentioned the mechanicals and Bottom. Again, it did a good job summarizing, but I know I'll have to go over the whole mechanicals' play within a play since that wasn't mentioned at all.

I noted some missing pieces just like this with some notable characters such as Much Ado's Dogberry and Hamlet's Ophelia. I don't see how you can retell the story of Hamlet without even mentioning Ophelia. And yet, they were good summaries. They were just missing some important pieces that I think a younger audience should at least know about.

So overall, I'd give it a 3 for execution, but I'd want to give it a 4 for how much my kid understood and enjoyed Midsummer. Therefore, I think a 3.5 rounded down to 3 is a fair compromise.

Thanks to Arcturus Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I was a child I really wanted to learn more about Shakespeare. My Primary school teacher had a poster up on the wall that gave brief details about each play and I found the pictures and descriptions fascinating. Cracking open one of the plays at the library, however, baffled me completely and formal study at Secondary school did little to endear me to Shakespeare. I guess what I am trying to say in a rather long-winded way is that I wish I’d had a book like this.

If I had to sum it up in a nutshell I’d say it’s a gorgeously illustrated, child-appropriate, summary of some of Shakespeare’s best-known stories, enough to learn about the key events and characters and inspire a young person to learn more. The book covers a nice range of tragedies and comedies including Twelfth Night, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth amongst others. Books aimed at children often try to sanitise some of the more difficult stories, but I liked how these were included. Beautiful artwork and a lovely collection that would make a great gift.

It can be hard to get kids to enjoy the classics, especially harder ones like Shakespeare. The language and length are usually a turnoff, who wants to read what you can't understand? This is why I was so happy to receive this book. Not only has the language been changed to modern-day, but the length of the plays/stories is changed to something much more manageable. The important details are still all there, albeit some are changed to be more PC-friendly for younger readers, so you don't miss out on the story itself.

No matter what you like, there's sure to be a story adaptation in here for you. It's a good mix of the different tones of Shakespeare to keep you entertained if you want to gobble it up in one sitting or break it down by story. Since it's easily separated you can even skip over stories that don't interest you.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Samantha Newman and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book. I am leaving a voluntary honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a great read, i didnt want to put it down! I would recommend this to my friends and family

I am glad that I found this book. There are few reasons why I like this book, and recommend to little readers and adults.
First of all, the stories' simplicity in writing. Personally, I'm not a fan of Shakespeare's work because of the complication in comprehending his writing, and old fashioned vocabularies(somehow, I managed to pass my literature classes ).
However,  this book was helpful for me to recall the stories ' events.  The stories are summarized and retold in the simple language for children to comprehend. 
Next, is the illustration.  The bright, vintage styled illustrations reflect interesting as his stories.
Lastly,  I love how the author gives a fair warning about the violence that the stories contain, and how some readers may feel uncomfortable. Of course,  Shakespeare's plays are meant for adult audience. However,  since this book is aimed for the children,  they have done their best to avoid  pieces of violent scenes (but not all) , and still gives a warning that it may make some readers feel uncomfortable. 

Overall, it is a good read. I would recommend this easy -to -read version to children who wanted to try reading Shakespeare's work. I would also recommend to adults who'd like to refresh (what they've read) their memory , and for those who'd like to have a quick read for reference.

Thanks to Netgalley and Arcturus Publishing for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve read some Shakespeare but it was, ahem, in high school so quite a bit ago. So I’d say I’m lightly familiar with some of the plays, and not much more. I had wanted a book to read with my 8 year old potentially. The plots were, in my opinion, well simplified so a child could understand them, and I quite liked the illustrations. I hadn’t realized how funny the plots are when you simplify them.

I was super excited for this book. As a middle and high school English teacher. I’m always looking for good ways to engage students in Shakespeare’s plays. Even renditions of the plays to pair with the originals. So, I was hugely disappointed in Shakespeare’s Stories.
If you’re going to do another retelling of Shakespeare’s classics, at least be creative or introduce some sort of a compelling reason to choose this book over the countless others that do the same thing.
I just don’t see a purpose for this particular book. Yes, the author sometimes included homage to some of the famous lines in the original, classic, plays, but it wasn’t done enough or in a meaningful way. The result is a bland book that offers nothing noteworthy.
I didn’t find the illustrations very nice or interesting, either. Frankly, they were infrequent, boring, one dimensional, and trite. I read the e-book, so … maybe they are better in the hard cover version?
It’s not a bad book, it’s a step up from the Cliff’s Notes “plain English” or Sparks Notes “side-by-side” Shakespeare editions, I just don’t see the purpose. I already have a couple other versions along the same line in my classroom library, so I see no reason to add this one.
Finally, I’m not sure of the exact intended audience … too childish for high schools but sometimes the turns of phrase and vocabulary and slightly graphic descriptions are too much for a primary school student.

I love Shakespeare so I was compelled to check this book out. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the pictures on the inside more than the cover. I feel as though the area it fell short is where most Shakespeare retellings do. The prose is simplified to be easier for a child to understand, but it is simplified so much that it takes the character out of the stories. I would just as well introduce the stories when they are ready and then take it slowly, rather than diluting the stories so much. Some people may not mind, and with the beautiful pictures, may take to this book. However, I just didn't love the prose.

This would be a great addition to a school or classroom library for middle grades! The book includes a brief history of Shakespeare's life and career, simple, accessible retellings of the essential plot of his most significant plays, and vivid illustrations. I can see students really enjoying this as an independent enrichment read, and I can also see the synopses being very useful to teachers to introduce Shakespeare and plays to younger readers.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This beautifully illustrated compendium brings the Bard's timeless tales to life for a younger generation, with wit and panache.

This is a wonderful collection of Shakespeare’s stories, all simplified and each story has illustrations and beautiful artwork! Honestly such a great read for kids or anyone who loves Shakespeare. Includes great adaptations of the original stories as well as being more accessible for younger readers. includes beautiful artwork done by aware-winning illustrator Khoa Le that will just bring a smile to your face.

Stories include:

• Antony and Cleopatra
• As You Like It
• Comedy of Errors
• Hamlet
• King Lear
• Love's Labour's Lost
• Macbeth
• The Merchant of Venice
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Othello
• Romeo and Juliet
• The Tempest
• The Winter's Tale
• Twelfth Night

*Thanks Netgalley and Arcturus Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Not to be stereotypically English, but oh how I love William Shakespeare. The one thing I would save from my house in a fire - apart from my mother and my dog - is my copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. It is 200+ years old, bound in embossed leather, is incredibly heavy and tactile in the hand, and not particularly child friendly. I also own many other old - and new - copies of individual Shakespeare plays and would love it if the kids in my family loved it as much as I do. However, there is this suggestion that Shakespeare is stuffy and hard to read, and I suppose if you’re not used to reading a play format, it could be.

I’m really happy to have come across this illustrated retelling of some of his most famous works. It is easy to approach, unthreatening, enjoyable and fun, and Khoa Le’s illustrations are just adorable, but the right side of twee.

It doesn’t dumb the plays down for the children, but gives them an enjoyable experience. It is great for newbies and lovers alike. When reading a play, you can get caught up in the format and struggle to follow the plot if you’re not used to it. So this way, the reader - be them a child or adult - really gets to the crux of the storyline.

It has actually given me a more thorough appreciation of Shakespeare’s writings, and I think it’s probably easier to read in public than a 1,000+ page tome.

Shakespeare can always be difficult to tackle, for anyone, with its lilting and lyrical language, old fashioned terminology and intricate concepts, stories and characters, so for children it’s understandable that it can be seen as a bit advanced or over facing.

Which is why books like these are so brilliant. It brings the delightful works of Shakespeare to a new audience, disseminating it to a younger reader, in terms and stories that are easy to understand.

It was brilliant at storytelling some of these fantastic plays, in short, concise, easy to digest chapters that were both entertaining and fun to read. The illustrations were a great accompaniment to the text, and I found the original Shakespeare plays were surmised greatly in their dedicated chapters. Plenty of great plays were included here, such as Othello, The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, a Comedy of Errors and of course, Romeo and Juliet just to name a few.

This book is a definite recommend for all the younger readers out there, to expose them to some of Shakespeare’s greatest works.

This title provides a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for young readers. There are fifteen plays included; to name just a few, there are The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, and The Tempest. Each play is brought to life, simply retold but true to the spirit of the original. The illustrations that accompany the stories are truly magnificent. Those who would like to introduce a new generation to Shakespeare may well want to pick up this book and let the bard do the rest.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.