This book was okay. It could be a useful resource to make kids understand a hard text with archaic language and the illustrations and easier language definitely does that but I wouldn't suggest that after finishing this the reader would completely understand Shakespeare and wouldn't have to read the original. Moreover, for a children's book, the book was text heavy, I wished there were more illustrations!

Confession: I'm an English teacher and I do not like Shakespeare's plays.
I honestly don't even know if that is legal. I fondly remember my high school English teacher dramatically portraying Shakespeare. I happily enjoyed both Honors Sophomore English and AP English my senior year with Mrs. Moore. As much as I loved her and her class, I never loved Shakespeare's plays. Still, I acknowledge his immense importance to the furtherance of language and literature so I want my children to be familiar with his plays. So I look to wonderful resources like Romeo and Juliet: A Shakespeare Children's Story by Sweet Cherry Publishing for their first experience.

Now if you remember the story of Shakespeare, you may not find any of it fit for young children as is! I certainly did not. However, Sweet Cherry Publishing has done an admirable work in crafting a kid-friendly version that is both entertaining and true to the text while leaving out some of the more sordid and explicit details.

One thing I greatly enjoyed was the line sketches throughout. They were darling, yet not too child-like. I liked that they were black and white sketches so they both added to the storytelling without distracting the reader so much they lost track of the story.

I also liked the reading level which it is geared towards. Very young readers can be introduced to the stories of Shakespeare in a way that is appropriate and gentle. This is such an excellent first-experience for anyone! And I'll let you in on a secret...if I had read stories like these first, I may not have disliked Shakespeare so much!

Cute book that the kids liked. It was a good version of the story that they were able to understand..They thought the cover was cute.

I found the book difficult to understand for kids and it was also incomplete.

It’s an easy to read translation that makes the text more accessible to a younger audience.

When i started reading i realised that the story is about macbeth and not romeo an juliet.

I was interested to see how someone could possibly tackle Romeo and Juliet to make it into something palatable for readers even younger than Juliet herself.
This highly condensed version of Shakespeare’s dramatic play focuses mostly on the title characters and devotes more time to the developing relationship than the death-fest that comes afterwards. There are some illustrations throughout.
In order to simplify things, some characters are changed a little. Paris is no longer some titled guy looking for a well-bred baby-maker, but is now a man who comes to the Capulet ball already knowing Juliet and in love with her. The nurse becomes some random servant in the background of the story.
I think the violent aspects of the story were explained as briefly and best as they could be for the target readers.
Still, it’s an extraordinary choice of story for a middle grade book!

I received Macbeth instead of Romeo and Juliet. Not sure if this is a compilation book, if that's just some download error...

So, regarding MACBETH:

I thought the story was clear and well told. Spot on grade for children to understand the story. I like that some of the more famous quotes from the play are in the story.

The illustrations were fine. Nothing to get too excited about.

I received Macbeth instead of Romeo and Juliet so cannot give a fair rating. Instead, I am giving a neutral rating.

Shakespeare can be a challenge for anyone to read and understand and this book fits in with most readers in enabling us all to get an understanding of the basic story before attempting the more challenging 16th Century English. In this version of Macbeth, the author has retold the story in an easily accessible way that will allow all ages to follow along. Illustrated throughout, the plot is covered with parts of the dialogue showing the original language, introducing that element of Shakespeare to the reader. For me, this book will be perfect for introducing my daughter to the themes in Shakespeare before she is ready to challenge the language, I great idea well presented.

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars.
A childrens version of the classic 'Romeo & Juliet', told in a way that makes the story easy to understand for younger readers. The illustrations are simple but good.

Nope. Not for me. I think the play needs to be read in it's original language in order to appreciate it. Maybe a viewing of Franco Zeffirelli's film before reading will help. But dumbing it down does it no justice....

Romeo and Juliet was the first Shakespeare play that I read. My class put on a condensed version of the play when I was ten, and I later read it in middle school. I think it is a good choice for introducing children to Shakespeare.

This is a good version of the story. I liked the illustrations that went along with it. They would help children follow along with the story. Some of the men were drawn in a similar way, like Mercutio, Benvolio, and Tybalt. But Romeo and Juliet were distinctly illustrated.

I liked the way that some of the most famous lines from the play were paraphrased so modern children would understand. For instance, in the balcony scene, Juliet says “O Romeo, Romeo! Why do you have to be Romeo?” rather than “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” This way, children will learn what the characters are saying without getting confused by Shakespeare’s phrasing.

At times I found the story to get a little confusing. Especially at the beginning, there is a lot of “he did this, then this, then this.” However, the main points of the story were clear.

This is a great book to introduce children to Shakespeare.

The book I was able to sample on Netgalley was Macbeth and not Romeo and Juliet.
Nevertheless, I found it of excellent quality. The adaptation is short and to the point, enhanced with beautiful black and white illustrations.
Perfect for young readers as a first introduction to the Bard's classic plays.

I don't ever read Shakespeare because I don't understand it. I've always heard about the classic of Romeo and Juliet and even saw the play multiple times. Still don't get most of them. After reading this book, understand the story completely. I would love to see other plays by Shakespeare to be rewritten into a similar concept of this. Great work. :)

As a primary teacher, this book is a valuable resource because it takes something that is essentially a very hard text for younger children and breaks it down into a more understandable version complete with illustrations to aid the reading. I would not hesitate in recommending this to all of my friends, especially the teachers, as it is a good quality text to use.

My 7 year old was introduced to Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear earlier this year in school so she lept at the chance to read a child friendly Romeo and Juliet.
She read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it. Easily digestable for younger readers and she is now looking at photos of fair Verona where she visitied as an infant. Would definitely recommend.

Pretty standard Coles-Notes version of the play. The artwork is mixed in and its a direct telling of the story. Helpful for those intimidated by the play and its dialogues.

I read this with my son, aged 7. I enjoy a bit of William Shakespeare every now and again, and everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet. This manages to break down what can be quite a complex story, into something palatable to a younger audience. It's broken up with pictures to accompany the text (something my son appreciated) and manages to engage the reader with words appropriately to the target audience. I would certainly look out for more titles in this series, as it's a great introduction to Shakespeare to my children.

This is a fun take on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet fit for children. If you're looking to begin introducing the younger ages to his brilliant plays, this is a great way to go about it.