To Wee or Not To Wee!

Baby Aliens #5

by Pamela Butchart, Thomas Flintham (Illustrator)

Hamlet could NEVER make his mind up about ANYTHING. And one time he actually went to school in just his pants and got sent home because he couldn’t decide what to wear.

When Izzy (star of The Spy Who Loved School Dinners) is asked to tell her friends some HILARIOUS and SCARY stories she knows exactly where to look: Shakespeare, the king of SUPER dramatic stuff.

After learning about Macbeth (a STRONG solider who ate four bowls of porridge and twenty pieces of toast every morning) her friends want more. So Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet all get the Izzy treatment. There’s blood and guts, ghosty stuff, and plenty of people wandering around in their nighties. The perfect introduction to the Bard!

Izzy’s version of Macbeth originally appeared on the BBC Radio series ‘Shakespeare Retold’, read by actress Shirley Henderson (who played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films!).

Genres: Childrens, Shakespeare

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2016

About the author

As a child, Pamela was lucky enough to grow up in a house full of pets and go to a primary school where lots of spooky and weird things happened (well, in her imagination at least). As a student, Pamela’s student jobs included: fishwife, teaching basketball in America, phlebotomist and Artist Liaison for a (really bad) Abba tribute band. Now, when she’s not writing or going out and about meeting readers, Pamela teaches philosophy to teenagers.

Her top selling stories include The Spy Who Loved School Dinners which won the Blue Peter Best Story Award and My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat which won The Children’s Book Award. Two of her books, Petunia Peri and There’s a Werewolf in My Tent, were shortlisted for the Lollies – the Laugh Out Loud Awards.

Pamela lives in Dundee with her baby boy and their two awesome cats, Bear & Carlos. If she wasn’t working as a writer and a teacher she’d like to open a luxury hotel for stray cats.

Reviews

[Isaac Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it because it tells Shakespeare's stories but different and funnier.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun way to introduce Shakespeare to kids. My favourite re-telling was Hamlet but probably because this was the story I was most familiar with.

[Yoji Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant. It connects real-life problems that you or your friends have to characters in William Shakespeare's plays. The book includes plays from Shakespear and retells them in ways even young children could understand. Before this book, I didn't know much about plays and Shakespear but after I read the book, I find plays more interesting. My most favourite play from this book was Macbeth.

[Skyler Pritchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this it was amazing can't wait to read more

happy reading 📚 😊 ☺️ 😀

[♥Kornelia♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cudowna ze śmiechem i dużą zabawą! Polecam i to bardzo!

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izzy tells her friends Maisie, Zach, Jodie and school classes a fun version and obviously child friendly self remade tales of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream as well as of course, Romeo and Juliet!

She keeps them all intrigued as well as me, it was really fun and super funny even if it's meant for kids you will find it great!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction for younger juniors or older ones who are comfortable with a lower literacy level. Used it with book clubs from year 3-5s.

[Andy Dainty · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Hamlet, Juliet, Puck and Lady MacBeth (Bethy) were your school mates? 4 of Shakespeare's most popular plays (and the one's kids are most likely to be taught in school) retold by Izzy, to her friends when she finds them being a bit too Hamlet (ie. can't chose which Monopoly token or pizza toppings) etc. Very funny for both adults, who know the plays backwards from studying them at school, but also funny for kids who like other books by Pamela Butchart. All so good it's hard to pick a favourite amongst the 4.

[Sarah-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had some time to kill today so decided to borrow this book on my work Sora account as I’d seen it in Waterstones and thought it looked interesting. I love Shakespeare plays (even more than the English teachers at work I think!) and this book was a great read. The versions of the plays were accurate and yet not accurate - you will have to read it to find out what I mean - and so funny! 😂 The only downside was it didn’t contain either of my favourite of the plays but… I can’t mark it down for this!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best ever fractured Shakespeare! And I say that as an experienced English teacher who is fairly familiar with all 4 plays covered here. The frame story that prompts Izzy's retelling (like Hamlet when one of her friends can't decide which token to use in Monopoly, or whether he wants pepperoni on his pizza), how much of the original she gets in, and then the clear kid additions (like Gertrude telling Hamlet there's a lasagna in the refrigerator for him when he arrives back from university for his father's funeral and she's on the way out the door for a date with his uncle...).

[Morag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly funny, made me laugh out loud! A great introduction for children to four of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Loved seeing Pamela at Hay Festival (digital this year!) and while I have found a few of this series a bit difficult to read aloud to my children, because of the structure of the sentences, her presentation of the books and boundless energy gave me a renewed appreciation of them and her intent in writing them. Top work!

[Mary Pimbblet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely way to introduce children to Shakespeare. My daughter was entranced, although she didn’t enjoy it as much as the other books in this series.
Pamela Butchart manages to capture the voice of a young child in a pretty convincing way. While I didn’t believe a young child would actually hold an audience for the length of these stories, the voice of Izzy is authentic enough to carry you along.

[TheGirlWhoReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Late update, sorry. Its good, funny, preachy, but a bit of a drag. It is readable, even enjoyable and of course informative as a first time read, but not one of those books you read and read again. Plus, you'd miss some fun if you arent familiar with the original plays.

[Brittany | BookRamblings]

Hilarious! From the title and tagline, to all four of the Shakespeare retellings, I was laughing. Children retell Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet in creative, modern and witty ways.

[James Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious book for all ages. From hamlet asking a skull if he should wee, to Romeo making Juliet a ring from his own hair. Pamela Butchart is a brilliant author. As an added bonus my copy was bought in the shop outside Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon.

[Katie Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a funny take on four of Shakespeare's plays. It sets them out in such a cool way that links to the characters in the story and Izzy's way of telling them is hilarious!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was a very fast paced, funny read!

[Anthony Buck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not generally a big fan of either Shakespeare or Pamela Butchart (I know, I wish everyone would stop lumping them in together too) so it's maybe not a surprise that this left me cold. A very persuasive 9 year old talked me into reading it to her and she liked it.

[Amelia Phelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all about the Shakespeare plays . This book is great for people who love Shakespeare plays , but not only are they accurate, they also approach them in a kid way. I rate this a 3 because I’m not a big fan of Shakespeare plays.

[Rosalyn Davey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny!

[Isaac Inglis · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like this book because it had drama,romance,and amazing humor.
my favourite play was hamlet because it was in my opinion the most funny and it was about revenge.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and very accessible way in to Shakespeare for younger children. LKS2+

[HP Saucerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, the most imaginative and engaging re-tellings of Shakespeare’s plays for young children out there. Thoroughly enjoyed each of the four stories, all of which are brought to life boldly and brilliantly with clever humour. I cannot recommend this book more highly - the perfect introduction to Shakespeare.

[CR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely quick read and give a good insight to some of the more famous Shakespeare tales. Would recommend!

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction for kids to Shakespeare

[Mushy Bunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to Shakespeare...I read this with my dad and found it hilarious!

[Harrison Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all the books it was good for a kid because its childish in it's own laughable way.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as funny as I remember, but as a self proclaimed Shakespeare buff, its certainly an enjoyable half an hour

[Gary Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this was a good first introduction to Shakespeare, told in a funny way. Looking forward to reading more in the series.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great book for introducing the world of Shakespeare to children. I know my class will definitely find these stories amusing!

[Beatrice Vazquez-Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was boring. I do not recommend.