Overview

These atmospheric retellings of the alternately dramatic and hilarious tales of Shakespeare capture the heightened emotion of his greatest works. Echoing the language of the originals they make an ideal introduction to the plays for all readers new to Shakespeare. * Dramatic and enthralling retelling of classic Shakespeare plays. * Ideal introductions to Shakespeare for upper primary school (ages 9- 12). * Retold by a highly experienced and acclaimed author for children. * Illustrated with striking black-and-white drawings. Ages: 9+ Size: B Format Price: $14.99

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9780750250382

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Reviews

"""Birch's detailed, scene-by-scene narrative goes beyond study guides and plot summaries to stay true to the drama and the characters' complexity and evoke some of the richness and cadence of Shakespeare's language."" ""Booklist"""""

Of late many classic titles - including the Bible - have been turned into manga, in a 21st-century version of the venerable Classics Illustrated comics. This take on the Bard boils his play down to approximately 20 words per page, drastically abridging the text, though keeping intact the original language and meter. A fully colored dramatis personae reduces the characters to sound bites and shines in comparison to the flat, gray-toned images that murkily tell the story itself. As drawn by Brown, the characters are decidedly more Western-looking in their styling than is typical to most manga, and the adaptor's choice of setting is an anachronistic mishmash of quasi-antique and modern, a choice that will leave sophisticated readers knowledgeable with the text slightly puzzled. The Tempest (ISBN: 978-0-8109-9476-8), drawn by Paul Duffield, follows an identical template. These attempts to convert Shakespeare into visual language fall flat, although the slick manga styling alone may attract some new readers to these works. (plot summary, author's biography) (Graphic fiction. 13 & up) (Kirkus Reviews)

Birch's detailed, scene-by-scene narrative goes beyond study guides and plot summaries to stay true to the drama and the characters' complexity and evoke some of the richness and cadence of Shakespeare's language. Booklist

Birch's detailed, scene-by-scene narrative goes beyond study guides and plot summaries to stay true to the drama and the characters' complexity and evoke some of the richness and cadence of Shakespeare's language. -- Booklist

Author Information

Beverley is author of more than 40 books from picture books and novels to science biographies. She was born in London, grew up in Kenya and came to Britain for the first time at the age of fifteen. She graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Economics and Sociology. After travelling in Africa, America, Europe and the Middle East, Beverley joined Penguin as an editor. Her first job was on Economics textbooks, but within a few weeks someone offered to let her work on children,s books. She jumped at the chance, and has never looked back. Now she combines writing and working as an editor here at Hodder. She has two daughters and is married to photographer Nick Birch. Her latest novel RIFT is published in October 2006.

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