The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare Stories #28

by Andrew Matthews, Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Over two million Shakespeare Shorts sold! Discover the world of Shakespeare with this collection of brilliant stories - perfect for readers of all ages.

Lovely Bianca has a queue of admirers anxious to marry her. But her older sister, Katharina, must get married first. Katharina has such a fiery temper she is know as "the shrew", and no man is brave enough to propose. Can Petruchio tame her with his outrageous behaviour?

A wonderful retelling of this classic Shakespearean comedy.

Genres: Shakespeare, Classics, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Picture Books

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Andrew Matthews was born in South Glamorgan in 1948. Andrew taught English in Hampshire after which he became a full-time writer. He lives in Reading with his wife and their cats. Andrew's work has been widely translated and he has made numerous appearances at schools and libraries throughout the UK.


Source: United Agents.

Reviews

[eda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that this book was written in a time where husband and wife roles were completely different to how they are today, but I found myself getting uncomfortable with the ending. I don’t see how it was funny at all, it just seemed sad. Katherina was a strong feisty woman-maybe at times rude but, she changed into a submissive quiet wife.
2.5 stars

[queenofbrightshinythings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book no matter which version holds such a precious place in my heart since studying in my grade 5 Eng Lit class. Every version is slightly different and I love it. This never fails to make me laugh. Although I do not particularly like the ending lines of this very book.

[Luna fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s just a bunch of lunatics falling in love with two women. Also, I agree with katherina by saying that they’re all bunch of lunatics.not the worst book, but definitely did not like it is my least favourite book of Shakespeare.

[Nadia Rosli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that it was a different time but truly what the fuck is this shit. If you're reading this version to your children (for the sake of having them learn Shakespeare) I hope you explain to them that this shit is not cool.

[maja ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

from feminist to tradwife

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the Shakespearean plays that will likely run afoul of the modern self-declared PC police. It depicts a woman (Katherina) that is foul tempered and cannot get along with anyone. Her reputation for nastiness is so great that no man in the area has any interest in being her husband. Her younger sister Bianca has a temperament that is completely opposite, so she is considered prime bride material by many of the local men.
Knowing how difficult it will be to marry Katherina off, their father Baptista proclaims that desirable Bianca will not be wed before Katherina is. This leads to a group of men entering into a pact of deception, if it is successful the man that loves Bianca will be able to marry her. A man named Petruchio comes into town and serves as the man that courts Katherina in a very odd way. Like Katherina’s traits, his are also exaggerated.
This book captures the essence of the story, although it does not have a single line of dialog from the Shakespearean play. It is meant to be a comedy of the times of Shakespeare and it loses a great deal of the humorous features when placed in the modern context. Despite her faults, when the play opens Katherina is a strong, independent woman and by the end she is totally submissive to her husband.

[Payal Sachdeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolute pleasure it was , to read this beautiful book , with my both sons ... we were giggling and guffawing and we loved how the protagonist Shrew became so amicable in the end... a classic book ..
Though I don’t believe that any woman would agree to the whims and fancies of her husband 😄 , but this story should be taken in a lighter vein and as a funny book ..
Nice succulent read of about 50 pages !

[Ng Man Lok Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very interesting, it is about a pair of sisters named Katherina and Bianca, Bianca is a pretty and smart girl while Katherina is less beautiful and less smart, she is called a shrew by a lot of different people. Bianca had two suitors that loves her a lot, they are namely Gremio and Hortensio, they had a lot of plans to gain the love of Bianca, Gremio has Lucentio who is wearing the clothes of Tranio to pretend to be a scholar to teach Bianca when Gremio can gain the chance to woo her. Meanwhile Hortensio has Pestruchio to introduce him to teach Bianca music as the fake music master, so that Pestruchio can woo Katherina while Hortensio woo Bianca, at last, they all married and the original shrew has actually appeared to be the most obedient. This also teaches us not to judge people by their appearance.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to read more Shakespeare's but didn't know where to start so I bought the kids versions of his works. They are easy to understand and have some nice illustrations to look at, plus the covers are in my opinion so cute.
I may continue and read the original of The Taming of the Shrew, though I'm not to sure....

[MiR · Rating 3 out of 5]

"نامش کاترینا مینولا است. در پادوا به خاطر زبان تلخش شهرت دارد" هورِتنسیو گفت.
.
.
اول باید بگم این اثر کمدیه ، دوم این اثر طبق تفکرات مردسالارانه زمان قدیم انگلستان نوشته شده و خب نمیشه گیری داد.
اگر بخوایم خیلی حساس شیم پس غرور و تعصب و اینا رو هم نباید بخونیم. خلاصه ریلکس کنید موقع خوندنش و یه طنز سیاه قدیمی رو بخونید

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. It gives you a summary of the big main book. I'd not show high school and college students this book series or else they are likely to use these shorts to write their book reports.
Excellent for children and excellent for people who want an idea of what a Shakespeare book is like before reading the real book!

[Michaela Hembling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed others in this series but felt like this was simplified too much to the point that it was a bit boring. I didn’t know too much about the original before reading this but, compared to the others, feel a bit let down.

[Happy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting take of marriage and obedience. I just do not know if this is still applicable in the present time... But this is a comedy and an exaggerated one to make it silly and funny. This version is very easy to read and I am sure young readers would love this too.

[Joel Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favourite of the stories so far. There was a lot of similar sounding names, the comedy wasn't particularly funny and it was a feminists nightmare. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

[heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has always been to me the most god awful play by Shakespeare. This version has not improved anything. I would not be reading this to any child. In fact I'm quite seriously considering to keep this one out of the boxset to throw into my compost bin.

[Jodie Boast · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite Shakespeare play but as usual a classic and nice to have both Wordsworth edition and the orchard Shakespeare story edition

[Julian Van Der Weiden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The taming of the shrew auteur Andrew hoofdpersonen Andrew Matthews Tony ross

Waar het boek dat ver gaat

Over eten maken
Ze worden boos op elkaar
En dan lachen ze weer met elkaar

[Layla · Rating 2 out of 5]

. Names were confusing but Shakespeare tends to use long and similar names.

. Basic storyline wasn't great, you need to understand that this wasn't written in the 21st century if you're reading.

[jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

a flop if i ever saw one #justiceforkatherina

[Shivam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good app

[Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like how women were treated like robots, because Antonio made his wife say that women were weak and needed men for clothes and food and support.

[Kyra James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I relate

[Olivvia Glendenning · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok nothing flash but still good

[Emma Lofthouse-Burch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun intro for children

[Nakia Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read Shakespeare

[Megan Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!!!

[Anna Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great way for youngsters to understand the history of arranged marriages. A knowledge of an easier version of Shakespeare books.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good easy intro to the Shakespeare plays for a novice!

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This may be from a different time, but the sheer amount of hate for this ending just tells you, dear Shakespeare that readers have always something to say regarding gender roles in your stories.

[shtalkingmushroom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umm?!???? #justiceforKate!! She’s better than me I would’ve probably killed Petruchio at the end 🤷🏻‍♀️