Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities (Volume 4)

For Kids

by Colleen Aagesen, Margie Blumberg

Kids can experience William Shakespeare’s England and get their first taste of the Bard’s sublime craft with this lively biography and activity book. Staging swordplay, learning to juggle, and creating authentic costumes like a flamboyant shirt with slashed sleeves or a lady’s lace-trimmed glove bring the theater arts to life. Making a quill pen and using it to write a story, binding a simple book by hand, creating a fragrant pomander ball and a dish of stewed apples show what daily life was like in Elizabethan times. Inspired by scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, kids can invent new words, write songs, and devise scathing or comical insults just as he did. Fascinating and accurate historical information and 21 fun activities open a dramatic new world of learning for children ages 8 and up.

Genres: Shakespeare, History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Education

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

Colleen Aagesen teaches middle school in Omaha, Nebraska, and has taught Shakespeare in the classroom for many years. She is a native of Des Moines, Iowa, and has a B.S. from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and an M.S. from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Ms. Aagesen is a recipient of the Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a teacher, librarian, homeschool parent or theatre instructor, check out this book.
I'm serious.
While there are plenty of books out there that focus on mask making or putting a script together, this goes into real depth. While this may be for a juvenile non-fiction audience, the maturity and clarity of everything about Shakespeare's life, works and times, is here. From writing activities, to dressing in period garb, to sword fighting, there's so much to see, read, watch and discover in these pages.
The book is divided into 5 acts, much like his plays, and gives you a very thorough look at the Bard from Stratford-on-Avon.

[J. Alfred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere, some innocent and happy kid is reading this book, doing the little activities with a smile on his face, and proving me wrong. But this book strikes me immediately as missing its audience, because it is addressed to kids but will be read primarily, if at all, by adults whose job it is to teach kids. Those adults will be frustrated at the wide-eyed innocence of the style, the goofy strained-to-the-breaking-point quotations dragged in from all over the place, and especially by the activities which are promised so prominently on the cover, and which involve learning to juggle. You know, because Shakespeare's theatre players probably juggled to entertain the crowds.
I detected at least one explicit plot error, and most of the dialogue which is presented is given without good context and inadequate glosses. I didn't take time to make sure, but I think speeches from both Polonius and Iago are quoted approvingly and without irony.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was well-presented and interesting, a great introduction to Shakespeare as a person. A book most suitable for upper elementary and middle school, some of the activities were a bit on the juvenile side for the older kids (13, 15), but the text was good.

This goes further in depth than picture book biographies and is a useful resource!

[Havebooks Willread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource for learning about Shakespeare and his times with some hands on activities that make learning more enjoyable.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of Shakespeare's life for elementary to middle school. Uses some of his works. Tells about the times. Plus there are some great project ideas.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library because it looked like it had some good ideas on how to share Shakespeare with kids. My six year old saw the book, picked it up and began skimming through it. She got really excited and told me all sorts of facts about Shakespeare. We have done a handful of the activities listed throughout the book and we are planning on doing more. We have been having a lot of fun with this book.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise information which was perfect for us to use during our Shakespeare study. My children are 11 & 12 and I we only used a few of the activities. I think younger children would use more, but some of them are really things they would have made up on their own.

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep....my oldest dd is reading some plays, so I thought, what could be better than the entire family digging in and studying it together! :-) Fun!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could not find the actual audio book I listened to, called Shakespeare, His Life and Times, so put this one in as a placeholder.

[Rachee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Programming...again!