Rating: Needs Parent Supervision (Romance, deception)
Reading Level: Middle 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 points of this classic play. The story is about two pairs of young lovers whose paths to matrimony are unconventional (to say the least!).
Possible Concerns:
- Manipulation, deception, and revenge.
- Romantic love. Nothing too graphic, but still romantic love is perhaps idolized beyond what is appropriate.
Things I liked:
- I appreciate the front page with Tony Ross’s sketched portraits & brief descriptions of the main characters; this really helped me keep track.
While the reading level is early elementary, the content is perhaps better for an older audience. This may be one of the most tame and accessible of Shakespeare’s plays. However, I am biased: I generally think our culture puts romantic love in youth minds too much & too early, so I might be a bit conservative waiting until middle school.
Here are links to reviews of other Shakespeare books in this series:
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