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Macbeth
Macbeth is one of the darkest tragedies of William Shakespeare. The play revolves around a power-hungry Scottish lord,
Macbeth, and his lady, who conspire to kill King Duncan. After Duncan’s death, Macbeth ascends the throne, only to be consumed by guilt, panic and paranoia, which ultimately lead him to his doom.
This short narrative version of the play has been suitably adapted to help introduce the play to young readers. It can be read by children or read to them by parents who wish to introduce them to the play. It can also be used by teachers as a classroom resource. The easy-to-read narration and comic-style illustrations are sure to captivate children’s interest and develop their reading skills.
Macbeth, and his lady, who conspire to kill King Duncan. After Duncan’s death, Macbeth ascends the throne, only to be consumed by guilt, panic and paranoia, which ultimately lead him to his doom.
This short narrative version of the play has been suitably adapted to help introduce the play to young readers. It can be read by children or read to them by parents who wish to introduce them to the play. It can also be used by teachers as a classroom resource. The easy-to-read narration and comic-style illustrations are sure to captivate children’s interest and develop their reading skills.
- GenresClassics
67 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 13, 2014
11 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 17, 2017
I thought that this book was excellent. It's easy to follow and broken down in to just the right sized pieces. I love the story of Macbeth and this book really does it justice.
May 22, 2017
There are several reasons why I did not like this adaptation of Macbeth.
1. It's supposed to be rewritten for children, but the vocabulary is NOT age-appropriate . Even if a preteen was reading it, there are too many big words that a child would not know . If you were reading this to a child, you would have to stop after every sentence and explain half the words! I support children learning new words through reading, but there's a point where it becomes too much. If a child doesn't understand 4 out of 10 words in the book, they will lose interest and not learn anything.
2. It doesn't read like a story. It reads like a synopsis. The bare bones of the story are told with almost no dialogue at all, and no descriptions. The characters are just names on the page with nothing to pull the reader's emotions into the story. Bad story-telling!
3. The illustrations are weird-looking and boring. These black and white sketches of characters are supposed to look cartoony, I suppose, but their faces just look strange. Their eyebrows are huge, and Lady Macbeth has a crooked mouth. I don't know much about art, but I know that these illustrations do nothing to attract the reader into the story.
4. All the mystery and beauty and painful suspense of Shakespeare's story is completely cut out and lost. If you're going to rewrite Shakespeare, you'd better make darn sure that you know what you're doing! The best thing I can say about the writing is that it is all grammatically correct. But there is no magic.
I would never read this to a child. It might make them hate Shakespeare forever!
Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.
1. It's supposed to be rewritten for children, but the vocabulary is NOT age-appropriate . Even if a preteen was reading it, there are too many big words that a child would not know . If you were reading this to a child, you would have to stop after every sentence and explain half the words! I support children learning new words through reading, but there's a point where it becomes too much. If a child doesn't understand 4 out of 10 words in the book, they will lose interest and not learn anything.
2. It doesn't read like a story. It reads like a synopsis. The bare bones of the story are told with almost no dialogue at all, and no descriptions. The characters are just names on the page with nothing to pull the reader's emotions into the story. Bad story-telling!
3. The illustrations are weird-looking and boring. These black and white sketches of characters are supposed to look cartoony, I suppose, but their faces just look strange. Their eyebrows are huge, and Lady Macbeth has a crooked mouth. I don't know much about art, but I know that these illustrations do nothing to attract the reader into the story.
4. All the mystery and beauty and painful suspense of Shakespeare's story is completely cut out and lost. If you're going to rewrite Shakespeare, you'd better make darn sure that you know what you're doing! The best thing I can say about the writing is that it is all grammatically correct. But there is no magic.
I would never read this to a child. It might make them hate Shakespeare forever!
Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.
January 2, 2018
RATING: 4 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)
(Review Not on Blog)
Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare tragedy so I am always interesting in any retelling. I was especially interested to see how a play on murder and ghosts would translate to children. This is a very brief overview of the play sanitized for little readers, but the big concepts remain. I think this is a perfect to get kids interested in Shakespeare - but it's for a bit older kids and with parental guidance (of what it means - it's still Shakespeare)
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY)
(Review Not on Blog)
Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare tragedy so I am always interesting in any retelling. I was especially interested to see how a play on murder and ghosts would translate to children. This is a very brief overview of the play sanitized for little readers, but the big concepts remain. I think this is a perfect to get kids interested in Shakespeare - but it's for a bit older kids and with parental guidance (of what it means - it's still Shakespeare)
September 30, 2017
For me, I liked it.
But for children, this would be really hard to read. I found the language is not that easy to read myself!
For that, I am giving it only 2 stars. I didn't hate it, it is just not for children.
But for children, this would be really hard to read. I found the language is not that easy to read myself!
For that, I am giving it only 2 stars. I didn't hate it, it is just not for children.
July 16, 2018
Quick refresher
I’m an adult and read this to get a quick refresher on Macbeth. It’s not the best because it’s too short. Felt like a summary of the book.
I’m an adult and read this to get a quick refresher on Macbeth. It’s not the best because it’s too short. Felt like a summary of the book.
May 30, 2020
A great adaption for children of a classic play by William Shakespeare.
January 24, 2021
Didn’t like the adaptation
Want to read
April 19, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews