To Sleep Perchance to Dream

by William Shakespeare

The classic writings of William Shakespeare are brought to life with beautifully rendered illustrations, in a wonderful collection of verses that will enchant young readers.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is beautiful. Truly. That said, the rhyming that I expected was in fact very minimal. The text was selections from Shakespearean works, which is great, but did not hold the attention of my 3 and 5 year olds. They were happy to look at the illustrations.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was not going to like this book because the illustrations are not in a style I enjoy and Shakespeare is above the heads of the age group considered appropriate for picture books. How wrong I was. Shakespeare's passages are beyond lovely. And the connection between the illustrations and the text make the words take flight. Spread after spread just made my heart sing. It would take sitting down and going slow and working through the meaning of each verse chosen when reading this to a child. But this is a book any human of any age could love. If a parent wanted to introduce their child to Shakespeare at a young age, here's the book.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this on IlL through my library as I had enjoyed the Katie art book by James Mayhew and he compiled and illustrated this title. This title didn’t make me like Shakespeare. Mayhew’s illustrations are good and I especially li liked the first five double page spread illusions where children are exploring and playing.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 4 yo daughter took this book home from school. The graphics are beautiful but the book itself was way over her head. Even she was saying that the book didn't make sense to her so she made up her own stories to go with the pictures. It was a good effort but not recommended for smaller kids. Sorry...

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.