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Teaching Shakespeare with Picture Books

Teaching with Picture Books

So, I have a secret to share. Are you ready? I do not like Shakespeare. There! I said it. Out loud. My senior English teacher is shaking her head right now. To be honest, I don’t like Shakespeare when it’s written in “his” language. I get that many people find his language to be pure poetry, but I get hung up on it. And, when I sit down to read, I just want to read. I want to get lost in a story, and I can’t do this with Shakespeare.

However, I don’t want my kids to feel that way. So, when I discovered picture books that retell Shakespeare’s stories in a more enjoyable way, I jumped on them! We have also listened to a few of his stories in audio form. It was actually through an audio that I did develop an affinity for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But, we’ll get to that later.  

Don't be intimidated by Shakespeare. Introduce your kiddos to his plays with these fun picture books. | embarkonthejourney.com

Teaching Shakespeare with Picture Books

Thanks to Jim Weiss, I discovered A Midsummer Night’s Dream. If we had studied this play in high school instead of Hamlet, I might have a little better appreciation for Shakespeare. Anyhow, the kids and I enjoyed listening to Jim Weiss retell some fun Shakespeare. From there, we set out on a journey to explore Shakespeare in a fun way – with picture books and kids’ versions of his stories.

Here are some picture books you can use to introduce your kids to Shakespeare:

Use these free activity pages to have a little Shakespeare fun with your students. | embarkonthejourney.com

Shakespeare Activity Pack

Now that you’ve piqued your kids’ interest in Shakespeare, let them work their way through this activity pack. Inside, you’ll find a word search, biography form, characteristic page, and more.

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Comments

  1. yup I hate him too and see no reason to bother with him. but glad there are books for those who are interested. that is a good thing. so much better things to read. who cares if its a classic. doesn’t make it good. YUK!!!!!!

  2. I really want to plant seeds early so that my kids don’t hate him. They don’t have to love him, but most high school literature courses include at least one Shakespeare selection that they will need to wade through. I hope by introducing them to the stories in “regular” language, they will be better able to understand when they read it in “his” language.

  3. I think this is fabulous. I love reading from my own copy of Shakespeare’s works. These picture books will definitely help to introduce him to my own children.

  4. I love teaching Shakespeare, and I hadn’t heard of some of these. Thank you1

  5. So glad i’m not alone…. I never enjoyed his works; like the story line of most of them but can not get past all the language. We’ll have to try out some of these books though.