Reviews

Gr 6 Up‘A worthy sequel to Shakespeare Stories (Houghton, 1991). The first volume covered 12 plays, primarily the more familiar. This one has only nine, and several are unusual fare for young readers. They have mature and often jaded perspectives, which, if not incomprehensible to adolescents, we can hope might seem a bit remote. But Antony and Cleopatra is an interesting follow-up to Julius Caesar; Measure for Measure offers complex fare for morality discussions; and the peculiar magical aspects of Winter's Tale offer an interesting contrast to The Tempest. Reading such enriched retellings of plays students might miss in high school will enhance those they do study. For the guaranteed curriculum basics, such as Julius Caesar, here is an alternative to yellow study guides, one in which explication is subliminally available in the graceful prose. The romances are appealing, and Garfield's seamless movement between his own descriptive language and Shakespeare's has never worked better. Foreman's vibrant watercolors, particularly the mesmerizing Cleopatra cover girl and an anguished Julius Caesar at the Capitol, and the many small ink-wash illustrations bring strong visual appeal to a pending classic‘one that adults should not assume is just for kids.‘Sally Margolis, Deerfield Public Library, IL