Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

This is a great way to introduce Shakespeare into the lives of young children, and maybe to some adults who back when they were in school, did not quite "get it". I have personally purchased this book, aside from having been able to read it prior to publishing. It's fantastic.

'A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories' by Angela McAllister with illustrations by Alice Lindstrom is a book full of stories adapted from the plays of William Shakespeare.

The 12 adapted plays are comedy and tragedy. They span the best known of Shakespeare's plays. Each story opens with a quote from the play and a cast of the characters the reader will come across. The stories run about 7 pages with illustrations and are really nice adaptations.

I enjoyed these abridged versions of the plays and the really nice illustrations that accompany them. These stories don't shy from the darker elements of the plays, so keep that in mind for young readers. Then again, I would have loved those darker elements, and still do.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the illustrations in this book. I thought they were very charming. I just don't see most kids enjoying a book like this. Maybe it would come in handy for homeschooling, but I don't see kids seeking out the book on their own.

This is a beautiful book. The illustrations are lovely. My daughters loved this book and we highly recommend it!

It is really cute and the graphics are beautiful. The classic and world wide known stories from Shakespeare are told in an easily understandable way and in composition with the Pictures you feel the Magic.

I'm really struggling to imagine an age group that could be defined as 'child' that would be appropriate for Shakespeare stories. Let's face it, Shakespeare isn't just difficult to read in it's original format; but also the death, romance, betrayal, etc. is fairly adult. Maybe an advanced child of 10 or older would like this? Maybe.

Illustrations & Format
There is one lovely part of this book which is the cute illustrations and the over sized format of the pages. However I do wish the layout was broken into a couple columns to make the text less daunting. And the over sized format while fun (and in hardcover this book is heavy!) would be very awkward for most bookshelves. This feels like one of those books meant for a coffee table to spark a conversation. As a cocktail party piece it's perfect. Too bad that's not really what we want books for (lol).

Stories
I felt like each of the stories in the simplistic (and summarized) English wasn't well explained. Reading Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and MacBeth (to take a few of the really famous plays) I felt like if you didn't have context for some of the things happening (ie: know the play plot) then you might miss some key items. Maybe I was skimming as I knew all but three plays in the book; but it just felt like the content was really stripped out. As though the stories are more synopsis of what happens and less of a narrated story. I think kids will struggle with this format as well. It just doesn't draw the reader in.

Overall
While in theory this is a brilliant idea for a republishing of Shakespeare in a simpler format; I don't think A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories really achieves what it should. I expected the format and stories to draw me in and intrigue me (as they hopefully would for children). Instead I found the text daunting with it's full page width (on over sized pages this is just bad design, where are the columns!?) and while the illustrations are adorable they are just not enough. Watching many of the modern movies or takes on these same Shakespeare plays is probably a better use of time to learn the stories outside the original text.
I give this three stars because I love the concept and idea behind it. Plus the book itself has beautiful illustrations; but overall it was quite disappointing and not what I had hoped for.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This was a really great way to introduce children to the bard. I will probably be buying a copy for my kids.

what a brilliant book
amazing illustrations and great information. i showed my 8 year old how is constantly Reading it now and sharing all the book information with her friends
amazing book

If you're like me, Shakespeare works can be very hard to get into. But this book has helped me. It's a great book if you want to begin to kind of get the idea of Shakespeare works :)

I truly enjoyed "A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories." Twelve plays, six comedies and six tragedies, are chosen in this collection among the many great works written by Shakespeare. This book is an awesome way to introduce the legendary playwright to young readers. Text are nicely written and the stories are adorned with beautiful artworks.

The author includes a brief biography of Shakespeare at the end of the book together with a list of completed works by him as well as short introductions to the twelve plays chosen for the book. While the stories themselves are more for retelling the famous tales, the themes of each play aren't obvious enough by simply reading the stories. The brief intro helps to pinpoint the basic themes of each play loud and clear which I really appreciate. Overall, a wonderful book for children and parents to read together.

Perfect book for youth or those that never really got Shakespeare stories in before. This is a great book -- you'll enjoy the stories and understand them. It is wonderfully done. You will not lose the greatness of Shakespeare -- but instead you will get all the greatness as well as the understanding. It is not only well written, but the illustrations are perfect as well.

This is a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare for older kids. The stories themselves are clearly written and perfect for a bedtime story. Maybe stick with the comedies like Midsummer's Night Dream rather than Othello if that's your plan. The art is very Eric Carle-esque with painted paper cutouts. A cute gift-able book. Very little of the iambic verse is here, better for children to grasp but would be a pass for teens who need a bit more in-depth look at Shakespeare. It's a lovely book but might not fly off of library shelves that have and need the original text for students. Buy it for the Shakespeare fan in your life.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister breaks down twelve of the Bard's most well-known plays- from Macbeth to Much Ado About Nothing- into stories middle-grade readers can appreciate. Distilling the essence and downplaying inherent violence, these tales are reimagined for a younger audience. I think this is a perfect way to introduce these timeless tales at an earlier age. My older cubs really enjoyed reading them, and the youngest enjoyed the artwork :) This would make a great classroom book, and the perfect addition to children's libraries.

***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories introduces kids to 12 of The Bard’s most well-known works in modern, simplified language that will make it easier for kids (and many adults) to appreciate these timeless tales. The book contains all the plays you would expect: Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream along with a couple you might not know so well such as Twelfth Night and As You Like It. It steers clear of Shakespeare’s Histories and focuses instead on a good balance of Tragedies and Comedies.

I really enjoyed this collection. With the plays I did know, it was nice to experience them again in a short and simple way, and often I was able to pick up on new elements of the story that had passed me by when I read or watched in the original Shakespearean English. For the stories I didn’t know, this book was a great introduction that made me want to dig deeper and experience them in their original form. Every play gets its own chapter and each one begins with a list of principal characters which I also found hugely helpful for both the stories I was new to and those I simply hadn’t read in a while.

This would be a fantastic book for anyone studying Shakespeare in school or those who would like to dip a toe back into the Bard after decades away – how many people do you know who haven’t read so much as a sonnet since high school? The modern language makes the stories accessible, reducing much of the notorious difficulty many people find in engaging with these works, and the unusual collage-style artwork makes them delightful to look at as well.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories may have been my favorite book across this entire collection.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories, by Angela McAllister, is a colorfully illustrated retelling of Shakespeare's plays aimed at young readers. Using contemporary prose, it offers a creative way to introduce children and tweens to Shakespeare's famous works. The blurb about this book says it can be enjoyed by children 5 and up, but I am recommending this one for middle grades and up (10 to 14). It includes a variety of his plays, both comedies and tragedies. Some are extremely well known (Romeo and Juliet) and others not as much (Much Ado About Nothing). There were several plays that I had to read in high school English and this would have been a nice supplement to the old English prose. Each retelling includes an opening quote from the bard himself, and a cast of characters, and consists of about 6 pages of prose. This retelling will get the main plot across as well as who the characters are.

That said, a contemporary retelling like this (even one done very well) - will never serve as a replacement for the plays themselves. This would make a great introduction to one of the plays and then the reader, their family, or a class could attend the play that is performed with young viewers in mind. I ended up enjoying this collection. My two favourites, MacBeth and King Lear were both represented. Even though the target audience is children, the author does not beat around the bush with any of the principal themes in these plays. The character's motives and personalities come across clear as day. The layout is eye-catching and the illustrations are unique and add much to the understanding of the story. This would make a great addition to an elementary school library. The publisher, Lincoln Children's Books, generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

As a former English major and teacher, reading Shakespeare and making it accessible to students was a frequent refrain. I still remember the epiphany I had my freshman year when I first read Romeo and Juliet for the first time -- it was a love story with all the angst and drama that I witnessed in my high school around me. Being able to bring it to life by having my students act it out in a daily read-aloud exercise was equally rewarding as I saw them engage and connect in a way that made the text relevant to them.

In A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories, each play begins with a visual representation of the primary characters. A play is condensed into half a dozen pages of narrative text, with illustrations complementing the pages. I appreciate this structure, although I would only want this to be used as a tool to equip students with the basic framework, inspiring them to read the primary text. It would also be a way to introduce individuals to the plays earlier than they would be able to read the original works.

It's a few years before my girls will be reading the plays in their original format, but A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories is a book that could draw them in now, or it could be a good companion for those who are intimidated with the original plays.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.)

As an English Literature major with a subject in Shakespeare, I find this collection lovely. It makes reading Shakespeare easy and enjoyable for everyone, and I would have loved this as a child.

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories features 12 of Shakespeare most famous plays: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Othello, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice. Each play is rewritten so they formed a story in a modern language, with some original quotations thrown here and there.

While it seems like it was a children’s books with its vibrant illustrations, I think it’s actually perfect for all ages. The writing and original quotations blend seamlessly and the stories did not lose its essence. However, some parts may lose its cohesiveness and felt rushed, for example, in King Lear I had to wikipedia’d the whole story as the one in this book ends very abruptly.

The illustrations are very nice too, they are cute and vibrant when needed, but can also be gloomy in tragic moments- which, since this is a Shakespeare book, is a lot. They really give life to the stories and characters. And I love how at the end of this book there are some biography about Bard and small summary/background of each featured plays.

I absolutely loved the illustrations. I think they were awesome for Shakespeare, for kids, for bringing these plays to life. However the text was quite dull, and while I understand it was a narration of a play, it did lose some of its appeal.

I wanted to enjoy it more because I love the idea of this book, but other than the gorgeous illustrations there wasn't really much in this book for me.