Hamlet For Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun!)

It even includes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern which most abridgments do not. However, it’s written in rhyme which is cute until it isn’t. Sometimes, the forced rhyming muddies the text meaning.

Frankly, I'm not sure what passes for teaching English, grammar, reading, etc. in the grades below 7. This review isn't to debate those issues - instead, I point to this series of books as cultivating an interest in Shakespeare for both of my children and turning them into confident, expressive readers. When I first received this book, I read it to my youngest. Then we took turns reading to each other, focusing on the music in the words. Now both enjoy reading it out loud to anyone who will listen, experimenting with the meter and rhyme.

My 4th grader came home one day saying they started learning about Poetry at School and that he didn't like it.I saw myself at that age telling my father that same thing and remembered he bought me Hamlet and how I loved that book.So... I came in here to look for it and was awesomely surprised when I saw this book.We LOVE it! It has lots of drawings, letters are big enough and it has been "compacted" in a way kids can learn the basics of Hamlet without getting tired of a long reading.Plus, I am a doll collector and we created a scene where each doll had its role.Now we want all the books from this collection.And puppets!

Great book and great edition

My 10-year-old son reluctantly read Hamlet for Kids with me for one of his weekly writing assignments. He griped about it, but I think he actually enjoyed reading it. He wanted to see part of Branagh's Hamlet movie with me later, and even stuck around while I found several key parts that I had already passed.The rhyming is so clever, and perfectly tells the story! It is very understandable for younger students, but uses excellent vocabulary words. I love the notes written by the students that are from the point of view of the character. They seemed to drive home what was really going on in case my son hadn't completely understood it when reading the rhyming text.I plan to read another one with him in 2 months or so! (I plan to read ALL of them myself!)

I used this to prepare my 9 year old son to see his first Shakespeare play (Simulcast Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch). We read it 2-3 times and it was a WONDERFUL preparation for the real play. He followed the play perfectly and loved it. It really helped instill a love for the Bard. I highly recommend it! Follow up reading it with words from the real play and then a trip to the theatre.

Great book to teach younger grades!

This is a great way to help kids, and adults, learn what Shakespear's works are all about. The author has an incredible way of staying true to the original lines while putting them in a fun rhymne that makes it much easier to following. I am using many titles from this series with my son's fourth grade class and they love it. They get a real kick out of the artwork by the kids, too!

Great book.

I bought this to use during 'Shakespeare Week' at school - we had looked at 'The Lion King' and talked about it containing similarities to 'Hamlet' and, although I wanted to share the actual 'Hamlet' work with them, I teach a mixed Y1/YR class, so thought reading the Shakespeare directly might be lengthy and difficult!My class really enjoyed this! I broke it down into four 'sections', so we read it in stages, which worked well and allowed us to recap on what had happened. This also kept each reading/listening session on the short side. They were really keen to try and remember the character names (definitely not easy!) and had a good understanding of what was happening when. Although this is a heavy story in lots of ways, the fact that almost everybody ends up dead at the end kind of appeals to the macabre nature of a lot of young children too.I appreciated it had key quotes and passages within this rhyming version and my children were enthralled by the illustrations throughout it (they really appreciated that they were drawn by children). It was amazing to see the links they made and the questions they asked (although I actively promote a culture of questioning, I was still surprised that they were thinking so much about the plot).I had questions of which Shakespeare story we would be doing next and have had requests of both 'Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'Macbeth' after we looked at the other texts on the inside back cover. We will therefore be reading more Shakeapeare in the Summer Term!Overall, I would recommend this for sure - I read this with my class, but I would also read it at home in stages to children too. Older children could have a good attempt at reading this on their own (probably 9/10+ to read independently - some of the language is still tricky, although this would provide valuable conversation around word choice and meaning, as well as dictionary work as necessary). It makes Shakespeare accessible and is a good reminder that children are a lot more receptive to literature than they are sometimes given credit for!

The plot is rewritten in the form of a poem, and the illustrations and letters written by the children show great insight into the play. I LOVED it! great job kids!

We've gone through a lot of Shakespeare resources here (I homeschool my 4 kids). But these "Shakespeare Can Be Fun!" books are the best. All of my kids (ages 5-14) listen attentively, and completely follow the storyline.

An interesting take on Hamlet, written in rhyme and accessible.