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Shakespeare for Children  By  cover art

Shakespeare for Children

By: Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
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Editorial reviews

This recording is full of quiet delights - emphasis on the "quiet." Introducing their 1807 classic, the Lambs assured readers that these gentle retellings of Shakespeare's plays render unavoidably adult subjects fit for the innocent young. Narrating the Lambs' decorous prose at a stately pace, Josephine Bailey and Simon Vance expertly conform to the authors' intent, but on occasion the narrators' placidity threatens to lull today's young listeners, not to engage them. Superlative narrators both, they fortunately wring as much variety as they can from the frequent sprinklings of actual Shakespearean text. It's a treat, for example, to hear Bailey as Juliet, however briefly, and to hear Vance's Othello.

Publisher's summary

Introduce your children to the magic of Shakespeare with these 10 favorite tales. Although simplified, these lively stories don't underestimate young readers; they keep the complexity, twists of plot, and turns of fate found in the originals.

This edition includes: "The Tempest", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Much Ado About Nothing", "King Lear", "Macbeth", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Twelfth Night, or What You Will", "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark", and "Othello".

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." Listen to more Shakespeare.
©2005 Tantor Media, Inc. Originally published 1807.

What listeners say about Shakespeare for Children

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Not so much for children ...

but still a great introduction to Shakespeare. The narration can be ever-so slightly monotonous, but is well-done, nonetheless. What I enjoy about these tales is that they are brief (think "short story") and I can refresh my memory of the main plot and main characters of the play in 30 minutes or so.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

NOT unabridged

This has 10 of the 20 stories from the book. They are very well done, but I was frustrated to get only half of a book when it is supposed to be unabridged.

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37 people found this helpful