[.ca] Tales from Shakespeare: Children's Classics (ISBN 0517205742)

Archaic language:
Boring for the adult, utterly inaccesible to the young reader. Note that this book was written in 1807. If your goal is to expand your child's vocabulary, especially in the direction of archaisms, this might be a useful study text. If your goal is to teach your child to love literature and theatre, this could deal a ... blow to the effort.

Tales from Shakespeare:
Tales from Shakespeare was one of the few books that attracted me by its title. I've heard a lot about William Shakespeare, however, I never really got to listen or read his stories. I think they're really special because everyone knows who he is and they say his stories are wonderful. In this book, there are many, many stories, so I decided to read two of them I was interested in: ¡¥The Tempest¡¦ and ¡¥A Midsummer Night's Dream¡¦. But I'll only tell you about The Tempest. The Tempest was the first story of the book. It was about a man and his daughter, Miranda, a young girl living on an island with spirits, and no other humans. However, before they decided to side there, there lived before them, a witch name Sycorax. She prisoned all the good spirits, including the leader, Ariel. When Miranda's father decided to side on the island, he defeated Sycorax, and Ariel, as the head of all good spirits promised to serve Miranda's father in any way he can. As Miranda grew older, she became more beautiful. Her father thought that it was time for her to get married. He sent Ariel to carry Fernando, a prince to marry his daughter. At first, he was so angry at Miranda's father for doing such a thing, but once he saw Miranda, he decided to marry her. As they were getting married, Miranda's father had some revenge on his brother. What I like about this book is that, Shakespeare has a lot of good ideas. What I dislike about this book, is that, his stories are too confusing for me to understand. And every time I finish a story, I don't see the point of it. But I really enjoy reading his stories though.

Does the Job:
Good didactic summaries, suitable for cramming information into your head long enough to comprehend what's going on in your teenager's high school English class. More often than not, it will be modernized versions of Shakespeare, with modern weapons and other interpretive gloss. This keeps the story straight. But reading the basic stories in stripped down prose almost kills them. So what. It's enough for info-abosrption. Read it if you have to. If you want to read Shakespeare, on the other hand, read it like he wrote it.

A nice read for children:
As a younger person in the nineties, I dipped into the plays of Shakespeare, and this book let me get into the classic stuff. It was interesting, put into kids' stories so as not to intimidate the younger enthusiast, and altogether, it was a good book. I suppose you have to be in to Shakespeare to enjoy it wholly though.... A gentle, relaxing dip into Shakespeare. I'll give two stars.

A Great Introduction to Shakespeare for Kids:
I love this book! I have always loved Shakespeare and wanted my children to enjoy the bard as well. I always read these stories to them before we watch a play on TV, video, or rarely, on stage. They are a step ahead in that they already know the plot and can then enjoy the language more fully. They are developing a love for Shakespeare, too!