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The Usborne Complete Shakespeare : Stories From All The Plays
Discover or rediscover the fantastic stories from Shakespeare plays with this complete book! In this beautifully-illustrated book you will find the thirty-seven plays that Shakespeare wrote, retold for children from 8 to 88! You will be pleased with re-reading the all-time favorites (Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream or Hamlet) but also with discovering the less well-known stories.
488 pages, Unknown Binding
First published November 24, 2016
About the author
Anna Milbourne
280 books52 followersGrowing up in North West England and in Germany, Anna wrote plays about talking animals, and stories about naughty children, and drew on every available surface. After school, she did an Art Foundation course, then a degree in German Literature & Philosophy at Oxford University. In 1998 she found her perfect job at Usborne in London, writing about everything from curious penguins to trips to the Moon. Usborne.com
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 19, 2021
A standing ovation for this wonderful collection of Shakespearean retellings.
Nearly all the plays are retold for children in 15-20 pages, with the remainder getting a single spread.* Each play is introduced with an illustrated cast of characters (see textless illustration of Romeo and Juliet below, from the illustrator's website). Every spread has its own aesthetic and arrangement, though the style is consistent throughout. This helps set up the stories--bright colors for comedies, moody tones for tragedies, heraldry-filled primary shades for histories. While the stories don't have inset illustrations, the illustrated cast of characters "set the stage." Maria Surducan took great care in using the format to communicate the story, as in her arrangement and coloring of the Montagues and Capulets.
A few choice quotations are inset in the retellings, offering a taste of Shakespeare's verbiage. The calligraphic font and ink splotches add a fun touch to these insets, drawing a contrast to the slightly old-timey serif font of the main text, which does put me in mind of ye olde printed style that proclaims 17th century. The retellings themselves faithfully interpret dialogue and pacing, with modernized language that flows smoothly while still being recognizable compared to the original text. A section on Shakespeare's life and times is included at the end of the book, and of course my favorite section is on words and phrases Shakespeare coined (or wrote down for the first time).
I'm not usually a fan of reading plays. "The medium is the message," and live action is the intended medium for plays. However, retelling Shakespeare for children has plenty of benefits. Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes was a childhood favorite of mine. When I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream performed outdoors in midsummer as a young teen, my familiarity with the play from Ballet Shoes brought it to life. A book like this will demystify Shakespeare for young readers, hopefully leading to appreciation of the real thing later on. With the amount of Shakespeare references in literature, and retellings/resettings of the plays rife in pop culture, Complete Shakespeare has benefits beyond familiarizing young readers with his plays. It's also a handy tool for looking up a reference, or understanding the original story to gain a deeper understanding of the retelling, be it The Lion King or She's the Man.
Even in retellings, Shakespeare is still Shakespeare, so I'd recommend reviewing the book closely before handing it off to young readers. Violence and love troubles are his favorite plot techniques. Cutting out the raunchiness doesn't entirely disguise the goings-on. (The seven short retellings can't disguise the disturbing nature of certain plays that seem like Criminal Minds episodes. *squints at Titus Andronicus*) I think this would make a great read-aloud to older elementary students on a Renaissance kick, or a lovely gift to precocious readers who want to know what the Shakespearean fuss is about. I plan to add a copy to my library someday. In the meantime, I'm looking up Anna Milbourne's similar books for Usborne, including the complete work of Dickens and Austen, and myths and fairy tales from around the world. Haste thee for thy life, inter-library loan!
*Henry VI, Measure for Measure, King John, Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, Henry VIII, All's Well That Ends Well
Nearly all the plays are retold for children in 15-20 pages, with the remainder getting a single spread.* Each play is introduced with an illustrated cast of characters (see textless illustration of Romeo and Juliet below, from the illustrator's website). Every spread has its own aesthetic and arrangement, though the style is consistent throughout. This helps set up the stories--bright colors for comedies, moody tones for tragedies, heraldry-filled primary shades for histories. While the stories don't have inset illustrations, the illustrated cast of characters "set the stage." Maria Surducan took great care in using the format to communicate the story, as in her arrangement and coloring of the Montagues and Capulets.
A few choice quotations are inset in the retellings, offering a taste of Shakespeare's verbiage. The calligraphic font and ink splotches add a fun touch to these insets, drawing a contrast to the slightly old-timey serif font of the main text, which does put me in mind of ye olde printed style that proclaims 17th century. The retellings themselves faithfully interpret dialogue and pacing, with modernized language that flows smoothly while still being recognizable compared to the original text. A section on Shakespeare's life and times is included at the end of the book, and of course my favorite section is on words and phrases Shakespeare coined (or wrote down for the first time).
I'm not usually a fan of reading plays. "The medium is the message," and live action is the intended medium for plays. However, retelling Shakespeare for children has plenty of benefits. Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes was a childhood favorite of mine. When I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream performed outdoors in midsummer as a young teen, my familiarity with the play from Ballet Shoes brought it to life. A book like this will demystify Shakespeare for young readers, hopefully leading to appreciation of the real thing later on. With the amount of Shakespeare references in literature, and retellings/resettings of the plays rife in pop culture, Complete Shakespeare has benefits beyond familiarizing young readers with his plays. It's also a handy tool for looking up a reference, or understanding the original story to gain a deeper understanding of the retelling, be it The Lion King or She's the Man.
Even in retellings, Shakespeare is still Shakespeare, so I'd recommend reviewing the book closely before handing it off to young readers. Violence and love troubles are his favorite plot techniques. Cutting out the raunchiness doesn't entirely disguise the goings-on. (The seven short retellings can't disguise the disturbing nature of certain plays that seem like Criminal Minds episodes. *squints at Titus Andronicus*) I think this would make a great read-aloud to older elementary students on a Renaissance kick, or a lovely gift to precocious readers who want to know what the Shakespearean fuss is about. I plan to add a copy to my library someday. In the meantime, I'm looking up Anna Milbourne's similar books for Usborne, including the complete work of Dickens and Austen, and myths and fairy tales from around the world. Haste thee for thy life, inter-library loan!
*Henry VI, Measure for Measure, King John, Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, Henry VIII, All's Well That Ends Well
July 11, 2017
This is a fabulous children's version of Shakespeare's plays, beautifully illustrated and perfectly explained without being patronising. I have learned a lot from this book! Highly recommended both to adults wanting an overview / refresher of Shakespeare's plays, and for children (I would say aged 10+).
July 4, 2020
An excellent book with child-friendly summaries of each of Shakespeare’s wonderful plays. Contains lovely illustrations and suitable for all ages.
September 1, 2017
I'm not quite finished with every story, but I'm giving Usborne's Complete Shakespeare five stars. The up to date retelling of his genius allows every reader the chance to appreciate the wonderful stories. I am not a student of Shakespeare, quite the opposite. I was always intimidated by the language. This book has been so enjoyable and I'm sure I'll read more of the originals now that I have a better understanding of the stories.
I can't end without mentioning the illustrations! They are so beautiful. I'm sure this is a book our family will pick up over and over.
I can't end without mentioning the illustrations! They are so beautiful. I'm sure this is a book our family will pick up over and over.
April 9, 2023
Don't get me wrong, I did take a long time with this book, but I simply forgot about it with the other businesses of life, haha. Anyways, this was an amazing and intriguing read, as one who haven't read much of Shakespeare's work, I am not sure if it is accurate or true to the original, but I AM hoping to read more of the originals, so here's to hoping I'm finding out soon!
May 29, 2019
Really well done. Also a good reminder that Shakespeare’s stories really aren’t for kids...We’ll read one or two aloud, and the kids can read more if they like, but our time could be better spent with other books. Mostly we’ll save the Shakespeare for when they’re older.
June 18, 2024
A [more] child friendly summary/story of all of Shakespeare’s plays. There are still adult themes, but they aren’t usually stated blatantly. The more troublesome plays were relegated to one page summaries in the back of the book (hello, Titus Andronicus, in which part of the summary reads, “The story becomes very grisly. First, she frames two of Titus’s sons for murder and they are beheaded. Next, she urges her own two sons to attack Titus’s daughter, Lavinia, and cut off her hands and tongue. In revenge, Titus has Tamara’s sons baked into a pie, and feeds it to Tamora before killing her…” I mean, if you’re summarizing ALL the plays, this one’s going to be challenging to make child friendly no matter how you try. So with that in mind, this may not be a book that you just hand over to your child without proofreading all the stories first and preparing to discuss the more difficult ones. Just like you might have to do when reading through the Old Testament Bible with children (hello, book of Judges).
That said, I found the book extremely helpful for myself. First reading a children’s reduction of the play has made reading the original Shakespeare more reachable for me. I also like to supplement the play with episodes from the podcast, “The Play’s The Thing”, which dissects and discusses the plays from a Christian perspective.
After years and years of thinking I hated Shakespeare, I’m realizing my biggest problem was that I didn’t understand him, nor did I have a fun, low key introduction to the poet as a child. My introduction to him was in high school when I was given several of the original old English scripts to study and be tested on. That’s a scenario I’m hoping to bypass with my own kids, and I think this book gives a great introduction for kids to whet their Shakespearean appetites on.
That said, I found the book extremely helpful for myself. First reading a children’s reduction of the play has made reading the original Shakespeare more reachable for me. I also like to supplement the play with episodes from the podcast, “The Play’s The Thing”, which dissects and discusses the plays from a Christian perspective.
After years and years of thinking I hated Shakespeare, I’m realizing my biggest problem was that I didn’t understand him, nor did I have a fun, low key introduction to the poet as a child. My introduction to him was in high school when I was given several of the original old English scripts to study and be tested on. That’s a scenario I’m hoping to bypass with my own kids, and I think this book gives a great introduction for kids to whet their Shakespearean appetites on.
November 28, 2023
Discover beautifully-Illustrated children books. A lof of fantastic plays from Shakespeare you can find it : A Midsummer's Night Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Julius Ceasar, The Winter's Tale, and others.
Buku ini cocok sekali sebagai buku bacaan anak-anak diumur 8-15 tahun. Bisa juga dipakai untuk Reading Comprehension for Young Learners dan pembelajaran Narrative Text. Apalagi ada ilustrasinya setiap cerita, jadi tidak membuat bosan jika dibaca. Setiap cerita tergambar berbagai tokoh-tokoh dan keterangan penokohannya dengan gaya ilustrasi yang khas. Cerita yang aku suka : A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV, Hamlet, Macbetch, Romeo and Juliet, dan The Winter's Tale. Tapi semuanya bagus semuaa🥺🥺❤️ bingung mau milih apa 🤧🤧
Buku ini cocok sekali sebagai buku bacaan anak-anak diumur 8-15 tahun. Bisa juga dipakai untuk Reading Comprehension for Young Learners dan pembelajaran Narrative Text. Apalagi ada ilustrasinya setiap cerita, jadi tidak membuat bosan jika dibaca. Setiap cerita tergambar berbagai tokoh-tokoh dan keterangan penokohannya dengan gaya ilustrasi yang khas. Cerita yang aku suka : A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV, Hamlet, Macbetch, Romeo and Juliet, dan The Winter's Tale. Tapi semuanya bagus semuaa🥺🥺❤️ bingung mau milih apa 🤧🤧
December 28, 2023
Good introduction to Shakespeare that includes all his plays in one format or another.
Most of them are summarized in about 15-20 pages in a child appropriate manner. Before the stories, there is a two page spread with beautiful illustrations of all the important characters, and a sentence or two about each one. Within the text itself, you will find some interesting quotes from the actual plays in the margins, making the entire book fun to look at.]
For the plays that simply aren't kid friendly (looking at you, Titus Andronicus), the book provides a two page spread, one being a short summary, and the other being a single page of major characters and their descriptions.
Overall, a great introduction to Shakespeare for kids.
Most of them are summarized in about 15-20 pages in a child appropriate manner. Before the stories, there is a two page spread with beautiful illustrations of all the important characters, and a sentence or two about each one. Within the text itself, you will find some interesting quotes from the actual plays in the margins, making the entire book fun to look at.]
For the plays that simply aren't kid friendly (looking at you, Titus Andronicus), the book provides a two page spread, one being a short summary, and the other being a single page of major characters and their descriptions.
Overall, a great introduction to Shakespeare for kids.
March 11, 2023
This is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays. It is geared towards children, of course, but it would be really useful for any adult or anyone who finds Shakespeare intimidating.
Each play is introduced by a teaser summary and a description of the main characters. Then, the play is told in narrative fashion, retaining a lot of the original Shakespearian language (or close to it). It would be very useful to read before tackling reading a play or seeing it performed. The illustrations are also excellent also.
I used it to introduce my sons to Shakespeare, and I hope they will come back to it again. I hope it helps them to love Shakespeare and want to read his plays.
Each play is introduced by a teaser summary and a description of the main characters. Then, the play is told in narrative fashion, retaining a lot of the original Shakespearian language (or close to it). It would be very useful to read before tackling reading a play or seeing it performed. The illustrations are also excellent also.
I used it to introduce my sons to Shakespeare, and I hope they will come back to it again. I hope it helps them to love Shakespeare and want to read his plays.
May 14, 2018
I love this. I borrowed it to see if it was good for my 5 year old as i saw it advertised as 6+......i think but she is not interested as there were no pictures but I LOVE IT! I would love to have this in my collections for her to read when she grows older. Although when i checked to confirm these werre all his plays i found there are only 34 when we wrote 37 and 7 are told in breif.. im not sure why but i am sure this book is huge and deadly heavy so it may have been better to include them all in brief to save my wrists!
Want to Read
September 5, 2022***Who sucked me in***
BookCravings in YouTube in their The Usborne Complete Dickens and Complete Shakespeare Illustrated by Maria Surducan | BookCravings video published on maandag 5 september 2022
The illustrations look gorgeous! Plus I think having read a simpeler version of the stories will help me when I want to tackle the real stuff.
BookCravings in YouTube in their The Usborne Complete Dickens and Complete Shakespeare Illustrated by Maria Surducan | BookCravings video published on maandag 5 september 2022
The illustrations look gorgeous! Plus I think having read a simpeler version of the stories will help me when I want to tackle the real stuff.
November 26, 2023
A very enjoyable book of Shakespeare’s plays. Executed really well with beautiful illustrations summarising the story’s characters. It is then followed by the story itself written professionally in modern English with quotations here and there from the original script. The last few pages were dedicated to Shakespeare and his life.
I borrowed this book from a local library, but have a great urge to buy myself a copy.. definitely a keeper!
I borrowed this book from a local library, but have a great urge to buy myself a copy.. definitely a keeper!
July 7, 2025
Read aloud to T(10). Good introduction to many (if not all?) of Shakespeare’s works. Great introduction page for each play that explains the characters and their relationships which makes the play a Lot easier to follow. Each play is rewritten into a brief story format, not original and not in play format. But still a good introduction.
Content 4*.
Only 3* because my copy was missing half of one play and had a half of another play printed twice.
Content 4*.
Only 3* because my copy was missing half of one play and had a half of another play printed twice.
January 5, 2021
Verzameling van een heleboel Shakespeare werken. Elk theaterstuk wordt ingeleid door een pagina met tekeningen van de personages en een korte schetsing van het verhaal (super handig). Geschreven in modern Engels met de belangrijkste quotes geduid in het oud Engels.
Ah ja move over 'Othello' , mijn favoriet theaterstuk is nu 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'!
Ah ja move over 'Othello' , mijn favoriet theaterstuk is nu 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'!
February 14, 2023
My 8-year old has read many of the stories in this book numerous times. I have yet to actually read any! But she loves Shakespeare’s stories particularly The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry IV. From what I’ve briefly flipped through, it seems the stories are appropriate for a child her age to familiarize herself with Shakespeare and enjoy.
July 10, 2025
This is such a great resource to have in the home for when you want to understand a Shakespeare play but need a simpler version. The main text is in plain English, but an original quote graces the tops of many pages. This is a perfect combination of accessibility and getting a taste of the bard's delicious original words.
I'm sad that this book is no longer in print!
I'm sad that this book is no longer in print!
February 15, 2021
Excellent child-friendly version of Dickens’ stories. Great appetiser for grownups to get hooked up to them and read the full version. Great illustrations, easy to read and no wonder how Dickens is such an important figure in English literature.
November 19, 2023
It is a nice collection, geared towards a middle grade crowd. Thought there would be more illustrations than there were, especially for the plays that get a 20 page feature, but still a nice collection.
August 6, 2024
Beautiful illustrations and retellings that remarkably retain some of Shakespeare's best language and insight. These stories stand in the tradition of Charles and Mary Lamb's retellings, but with a bit more of a Grimm's fairy-tale like feel.
March 12, 2021
Pretty good, really. Lovely illustrations. Liked it.
July 13, 2023
I love this book!!! It is the perfect retelling of Shakespeare!!! I have read it multiple times.
I strongly suggest reading this.
I strongly suggest reading this.
December 25, 2024
Easy to read with fabulous illustrations!
March 25, 2026
What a lovely edition! I'm in love with the illustrations. Suitable for all ages. I bought it for my collection. Highly recommended.
March 20, 2020
Great intro to young Shakespeare fans. It tells every story in about 25 pages, keeping some Shakespeare quotes, but stating the play in modern language. It included fun illustrated intros to the characters and setting too! Very good at getting readers familiar and interested in Shakespeare plays.
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November 2, 2017I can’t believe I’m finally finished reading this! I’ve so enjoyed picking this up every now and again and reading a few stories about Shakespeare’s plays. I would highly recommend this book.
Also the illustrations were delightful!
Also the illustrations were delightful!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews