Eyewitness: Shakespeare (Eyewitness Books)

Rating:
Summary: An illustrated supplement on Shakespeare's life and times
Review: As it says on the cover, this Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Book on "Shakespeare" allows young readers to "Discover the fascinating life and times of one of history's greatest playwrights." What needs to be underscored here is that this is not a book for introducing young students to William Shakespeare, but rather a book where they can find out more about him and the times in which he lived, especially if they have just read one of his plays for class. This means the book is as much about life in Elizabethan England as it is about the Bard of Avon, telling us how fashion-conscious people dressed, how Elizabethans performed startling stage effects, and such.

As with all DK books the emphasis here is on the illustrations and you will find full-color photographs of everything from trundle beds and the nine men's morris game to a 17th-century traveling library and a model of the Globe Theater. Peter Chrisp uses the chronology of Shakespeare's life to organize the book, looking at what going to school was like them and what happened when Shakespeare went to London. You will find out how boys were used to play the roles of young girls, what sorts of instruments were used to play the music used in plays, and what the audience would have been eating and drinking during the performances. The plays themselves are covered very briefly, organized by comedies, famous tragedies, the Roman plays, and adventures and fairy tales.

The more you know about Shakespeare's life, times and plays, the more you will find this particular volume interesting. Depending on what play is being read for class, this book can provide some nice insights into how that plays as performed, but this is definitely a hit and miss proposition. But then we are talking Shakespeare, and in 64-pages filled with illustrations you are going to have to make a lot of decisions as to what to include and what to leave out. Teachers should look through this volume before beginning a Shakespeare unit because they will certainly find bits and pieces of fascinating information that will impress their students.

Rating:
Summary: An illustrated supplement on Shakespeare's life and times
Review: As it says on the cover, this Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Book on "Shakespeare" allows young readers to "Discover the fascinating life and times of one of history's greatest playwrights." What needs to be underscored here is that this is not a book for introducing young students to William Shakespeare, but rather a book where they can find out more about him and the times in which he lived, especially if they have just read one of his plays for class. This means the book is as much about life in Elizabethan England as it is about the Bard of Avon, telling us how fashion-conscious people dressed, how Elizabethans performed startling stage effects, and such.

As with all DK books the emphasis here is on the illustrations and you will find full-color photographs of everything from trundle beds and the nine men's morris game to a 17th-century traveling library and a model of the Globe Theater. Peter Chrisp uses the chronology of Shakespeare's life to organize the book, looking at what going to school was like them and what happened when Shakespeare went to London. You will find out how boys were used to play the roles of young girls, what sorts of instruments were used to play the music used in plays, and what the audience would have been eating and drinking during the performances. The plays themselves are covered very briefly, organized by comedies, famous tragedies, the Roman plays, and adventures and fairy tales.

The more you know about Shakespeare's life, times and plays, the more you will find this particular volume interesting. Depending on what play is being read for class, this book can provide some nice insights into how that plays as performed, but this is definitely a hit and miss proposition. But then we are talking Shakespeare, and in 64-pages filled with illustrations you are going to have to make a lot of decisions as to what to include and what to leave out. Teachers should look through this volume before beginning a Shakespeare unit because they will certainly find bits and pieces of fascinating information that will impress their students.