Enchanted Island

by Ian Serraillier

One of a series of top-quality fiction for schools. These retellings of Shakespeare stories focus on "The Taming of the Shrew", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "Henry IV Part 1", "Henry V", "Twelfth Night", "Julius Caesar", "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Macbeth" and "The Tempest".

Genres: School, Childrens, Classics

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Ian Serraillier was a British novelist and poet. He was also appreciated by children for being a storyteller retelling legends from Rome, Greece and England. Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially The Silver Sword (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971.
He was born in London, the eldest of four children. His father died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only six years old. He was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and became an English teacher. He taught at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1939; at Dudley Grammar School in Worcestershire from 1939 to 1946; and at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex from 1946 to 1961. As a Quaker, he was granted conscientious objector status in World War II.

In 1946 his first children’s novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956 and has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children. Three of the children are siblings: Ruth, Edek and Bronia. Jan is another of the many Warsaw war orphans who somehow had met their father, and then fainted near the bombed out basement which served as home for the siblings, and was taken in by them. The four joined together in their search for the siblings' parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after the Second World War. In the United States the book was published under the title Escape from Warsaw.

As well as children’s novels and poetry, Serraillier produced his own retellings of classic tales in prose and verse, including Beowulf, Chaucer and Greek myths. Together with his wife, Anne Margaret Rogers, he founded the New Windmill Series in 1948, published by Heinemann Educational Books, which set out to provide inexpensive editions of good stories. He continued as co-editor of the series until the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the early 1990s. The illness finally contributed towards his death in November 1994 at the age of 82.

Reviews

[Celespine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Enchanted Island,contain eleven different stories from shakespere.The stories are,'A wild-cat for a wife','Bottom the actor','a pound of flesh','Falstaff and prince hal','God for harry,england and st george','The love-letter','Death of a dictator','Hamlet,prince of denmark','King lear of britain','Murder at dunsinane',and lastly'The enchanted island'.'A wild-cat for a wife'is the story i find that it is more interesting then the other ten story.
This story is about a girl called Kate.She has a shape tongue and a fiery temper then nobody wants to marry her,until a guy called petruchio come along to marry her.On the other hand, she has a sister who is more gentle,modest and beautiful,and she had already had more then one offer of marriage and was much attached to her young tutor Lucentio.But her father refused to hear of her marrying until he had first found a husband for Katharine.In the end after she married,she then realized how foolish and ungracious had been her former behaviourand was much enjoying playing part of a humble and obediant wife,delivered them a pretty lecture.This book also contain different kinds of story like adventure,war,magical and others.The story are in mordern english,and because it is in short story it can be read easily and enjoy them.

[☆ Driti ☆]

Just to be clear, I didn't exactly DNF this book. So this was my literature book for school, and school being school, only took up 4 of the short stories as lessons so I couldn't complete the book. It's basically just a simplified, very short version of Shakespeare's original stories...

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally owe a lot of my initial grasp and understanding of many of Shakespeare's plays to Serraillier's 'The Enchanted Island', and I have no doubt that many others do as well.

I definitely do recommend this book for all those parents who wish to start engaging their children to literature at an early age. You will not believe that what you are reading is a Shakespeare play, as its language and themes are adapted accordingly. Serraillier adapted 11 of Shakespeare's most famous and outstanding plays in one collection, and he has renamed each one as well (though he maintained their original plot and character), like ,for example, 'A Pound of Flesh' for 'The Merchant of Venice'. He also tried to integrate as many quotes from the original text as he could in a short adaptation. I personally think he has handled them superbly, all the major quotes are to be found.

However, what I really like about this book is that Serraillier maintains ,as much as possible, all the relevant material from the play. From the historical plays 'Henry the Fourth Part One' and 'Henry the Fifth' ('Falstaff and King Hal', his best adaptation, and 'God for Harry, England and St.George') to the comical and sublime metatheatrical play 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' ('Bottom the Actor'), all of the plays are adapted in a manner which befits the younger generation out there. Many characters are kept, which was a bit of a good surprise for me, and the central plot is kept in mind as well, throughout.

It is also amusing for adults, who will be delighted to catch up on the Shakespeare plays they have no idea about (or absolutely forgot). The style is exceptionally entertaining and engaging, which explains why it was used in most primary schools here in Malta (where I live, and where my own copy owes its origin to). Serraillier has a knack for narrating in his typical 'universal' manner and technique. Remind you of anyone? The only reason why I did not award this book five stars is because I wish that all the adaptations were longer than the average 15 pages Serraillier afforded to each play (or he could have included more plays).

As I mentioned Malta, I have one last thing to add. The title of the book is 'The Enchanted Island' (as you probably might have known by now). The name refers to Serraillier's title for 'The Tempest'. One of the most probable inspirations of Shakespeare for that play's setting is regarded to be Malta nowadays, though it is not so 'enchanted' anymore (though there are still many hideous Calibans mind you!)...

[Arishba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in seventh grade English Literature class. This book made me want to read Shakespeare's plays. It made me understand the stories better due to the simple language used. This book is great for introducing children to Shakespearean classics.

[Pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shakespeare: one of the most beloved authors in English literature, his plays still read and performed over 400 years after his death. And almost impossible for a modern-day child or non-English speaker to understand. This book retells, in modern language, the stories of some of Shakespeare's most beloved plays - including Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream - thus making the stories accessible, understandable and enjoyable to a much wider audience. This is definitely a book I will be reading to my grandchildren one day!

[Chantel Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it

[Orenajones · Rating 5 out of 5]

i need to read this book 😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉 so please upload

[Tricia Taylor]

How do you even get to read a book...I don't understand am confused I feel to uninstall this app

[Fennel Ellis-Roop]

I love it

[Amelia Vanriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was very interesting

[Dezgod2703]

rate pound of flesh

[Abbyagil]

I think that this is a very interestimg story

[Ezron Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good

[Amory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome.

[Miracle Ann Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a.wonderful book

[Shaunalee Bailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brghehebbehhehhehegcwgjejelveccvjksvsben vs ,😘😘😘👅👅👅👅👅👅🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕👄💋

[J T]

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[✿ Druti ✿]

This book was for my school lit book and we skipped many stories so I rlly don't have much to say, We only read 4 of these stories all from Shakespeare's plays. Also don't think I DNfed it

[Jedi Brown]

how do you read the book and the app

[DeanJean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with any kind of Shakespeare play or literature as a kid, and I found it surprisingly good.

You get A Midsummer's Night Dream (one of my favourites that is rather witty, and not too overbearing or boring like Hamlet for instance), The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet (ugh), and the aforementioned The Enchanted Island,to mention here. The stories here are not as dry and droll as one might fear, for classic plays/literature.

My dear uncle fished this out from a rubbish heap near his apartment, so it was one of the first books I ever owned. I still have the book with me!

[Moniedee · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love love love this book. I had to read it in school and fell head over heels for it . It base on Shakespare"s stories. I particularly love "THE TAMING OF THE SHEW". I read it so many times the pages were torn and dirty ..HE HE HE .. you must read it! I still have the one i used in high school and i've been out mor than 15 years now.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Shakespeare. These retellings are very good... they are not nearly as dry as the Lamb versions. I LOVE this book, because it can convey the brilliance of Shakespeare in a concise, yet very moving way. The highlight of the book is the retelling of King Lear. Simply fantastic!

[Alexis Chateau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Shakespeare in the world of literature. I had seen Romeo and Juliet, of course, but I had never read anything by him. I loved this book. I hope schools continue to use it as a favourable and easy introduction to the works of William Shakespeare.

[Kristen]

i think its a great book i love it

[Sherika Higgins]

its nice

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this book

[Brianna]

iTS GREAT

[Bass]

c

[Dandre · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is a good book to read

[Natalie Davilma]

its a nice and learning book