Classics in Graphics: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: A Graphic Novel

by Steve Barlow

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet like you've never seen it - or read it - before!Classics in Romeo and Juliet has been adapted into a graphic novel by expert authors, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, with illustrations by Wendy Tan Shiau Wei. The epic, tragic love story reads like your favourite film on the page - as Death stubbornly hovers over the heads of our star-crossed lovers.Classics in Graphics is a series of graphic novels for children aged 10 plus that has inclusion at its heart, flinging wide the doors of literature for everyone to enter and understand. Including dyslexia-friendly design on every page, and encouraging readers to relate to these iconic roles - casting spells, falling in love and winning duels.Each graphic novel includes pitch-perfect illustrations for presenting the tragic, the romantic, the comedic, the magical, as well - snappy simplified text presenting Shakespeare's themes clearly- introductory materials to help set the scene and context of each story- heaps of extra material at the back to keep the learning and fun going, including an exploration of themes in the play, the language, Shakespeare's inspirations, the publication and performance of the play in history, a timeline of Shakespeare's life and works, and much more!Plays available in the series MacbethThe TempestHamletRomeo and JulietA Midsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado About Nothing

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance, Classics, School

112 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Steve Barlow (real name Steven Lowe) was born in Britain. He studied at Warwick University and Nottingham University, and worked at various times as a teacher, actor, stage manager and puppeteer. Then he went to teach in Botswana. On his return to the UK he met Steve Skidmore, collectively known as The Two Steves—are British collaborative writers who mostly work in the field of children's literature. They have written over 70 books together.

Reviews

[Tiffany AB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so great! What a neat way to consume Shakespeare. It even had facts about Shakespeare and his life at the beginning and end of the book too! Highly recommend.

[Nina Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a way to introduce Shakespeare to a young reader!
I loved reading this with my 10 year old daughter.
The graphics are great, and although the language is significantly simplified to cater for younger audiences, the additional information at the start and end, including some history, timeline, glossary, details about books in the time of Shakespeare, really make it a worthwhile graphic novel.

[Jade_Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had such a good time with this graphic novel. The art style is stunning, and the little intro about Shakespeare and the play’s history was a fun little touch. I’m obsessed with this story, but especially the 90s DiCaprio movie adaptation, so reading this felt like reliving all that chaotic, dramatic again.

I’ve always loved the story even though it makes zero sense sometimes, love at first sight, then marriage immediately. Absolute mayhem, but I still adore every second. The adaptation doesn’t feel rushed at all, and the pacing is perfect. The characters are hilarious, and even the side characters get their moment. I was smiling in public like a fool reading this.

It balances tragedy with bizarre comedy (“Romeo is dead and Juliet, who was already dead, has been killed again!”) and somehow it works so well!

Cute, funny, dramatic, and a really charming way to revisit a classic.

[Dark Winged Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★

I absolutely loved this graphic novel adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The artwork was beautiful, and while the style was fairly simple, it was incredibly effective. The character designs reflected each character's personality and added depth to the story.

One of my favorite choices was how Death was portrayed almost as a physical presence throughout the book. Since death is such an important theme in the story, this added a haunting atmosphere that made the tragedy even more impactful.

Overall, this adaptation stayed true to the heart of the original while making it more accessible and engaging. I highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet but it’s not a story I overly enjoy. It was probably a bit unfair of me to pick this up knowing I don’t really like the story but I wanted to start with something I knew slightly.

This graphic novel made the language a lot simpler and easier to understand (plain English instead of whatever Shakespeare wrote in)

The art was lovely and I really liked the extra information you got at the beginning and end.

I will definitely look into more of the “classics in graphics” series.

[♛ Garima ♛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this made me realise how stupid and naive Romeo and Juliet were respectively. But that's love for you... Nice, clean and simple representation of an old classic with decent graphics. I can recommend this to young readers.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great adaptation, the artwork conveys the characters and drama very well, with the intensity and emotions. The language is easy to follow, but is similar enough to the original play that students who are studying it can relate to the scenes.

[L.C. Wolff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the style and graphics + filled with loads of extra information around Shakespeare ♥

[Kadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quick read, beautiful artwork and a more modern way of telling this classic story.

[Hannah-Xanthe Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ This was good, loved the art style ❤️

[A B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative quick read

Aimed at teens bu5 with lots of interesting facts at the start and end of the play which are suitable for any age!

[Yordanos Haile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entering

It is a good and mysterious book 10/10 I like the book some much I would recommend it to everyone

[alicha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the graphics in the book

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Dean Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome 👍👍👍👍

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun adaptation.