First sentence: Welcome to the world of William Shakespeare! William Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616 and is still, centuries later, thought to be the greatest playwright ever.
Premise/plot: This pop-up book was written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company and illustrated by Jennie Maiezels. One spread is dedicated to William Shakespeare himself. One spread focuses on Shakespeare's comedies. One spread focuses on Shakespeare's histories. One spread focuses on Shakespeare's romances. One spread focuses on Shakespeare's tragedies. Something is said about each and every Shakespeare play. The emphasis is sometimes more on what the plays have in common than on what makes each play unique.
My thoughts: I liked it. I like the idea of liking it anyway. Some pop-ups work better than others. The pop-up for the tragedies, for me, proves problematic in closing the book again. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get the pop-ups to lay flat again and fit together. The flaps on the front page--particularly on the bottom corner of the right hand page--absolutely refused to open. The flaps and pop-ups worked well for the most part, but be prepared to turn the book around a lot. Every inch of space in the book has teeny tiny print filled with information.
I would say this is definitely a picture book for older readers. I don't see how actual children could have any interest at all in Shakespeare and his plays. For that matter, the content of Shakespeare's plays wouldn't be suitable for children.
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
I like the idea of exposing children to Shakespeare early so he isn't so intimidating later. But, I'm not sure this works.
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