Ratings: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: High School

Matthew’s retellings of Shakespeare’s plays are the Cliff’s notes for the Cliff’s notes! In about 10 minutes, I caught some main events leading to Caesar’s assassination.

Possible Concerns:

  • Tyranny
  • Conspiracy, betrayal, manipulation
  • Murder, deceit
  • Revenge

Things I liked:

  • Pictoral list of characters. The front page has Tony Ross’s sketched portraits & brief descriptions of the main characters that helped me keep track.

While the reading level is early elementary, the content of tyrant, conspiracy, betrayal, manipulation, murder, deceit, and revenge make it more suitable for a much older audience. It did make me curious about how historically accurate it was; I spent the following morning learning about the Roman Empire around 44 BC!

Here are links to my reviews of others of Andrew Matthews’ retellings:

titlelinkratingreading_level
Much Ado About Nothing: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/10/much-ado-about-nothing-a-shakespeare-story-by-andrew-matthews/Needs Parent Supervision (Romance, Deception)Middle school
Julius Caesar: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/07/julius-caesar-a-shakespeare-story-by-andrew-matthews/Needs Parent SupervisionHigh school
The Taming of the Shrew: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/17/the-taming-of-the-shrew-a-shakespeare-story-retold-by-andrew-matthews/Not RecommendMiddle School
Hamlet: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/21/hamlet-a-shakespeare-story-retold-by-andrew-matthews/Not RecommendHigh school
Macbeth: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/31/macbeth-a-shakespeare-story-retold-by-andrew-matthews/Needs Parent Supervision (but Recommended with discussion)Middle school
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/08/28/a-midsummer-nights-dream-a-shakespeare-story-retold-by-andrew-matthews/Not for meMiddle school
As You Like It: A Shakespeare Storyhttps://jesuslovesbookworms.com/2023/09/14/as-you-like-it-a-shakespeare-story-retold-by-andrew-matthews/I like it BUT some Families may notMiddle School