ANNOTATION

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From Harold Bloom's now-canonical book, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, comes a joyous demonstration that Bottom is a comic apotheosis and not in any way a buffoon. As Bloom urges, we are to consider Puck's transformation of Bottom not as a reduction to bestiality but rather as a comic triumph of innocence over enchantment.

SYNOPSIS

Each Edition Includes:
• Comprehensive explanatory notes
• Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship
• Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English
• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories
• An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

FROM THE CRITICS

Curriculum Administrator

Makes it come wonderfully alive for young students.

Sheree Van Vreede

Shakespeare is presented in a manner that is understandable to children without lessening the quality of the work. —Children's Literature

Publishers Weekly

Coville follows up his version of The Tempest (see p. 84) with a retelling of another of Shakespeare's most popular plays. The fundamental story of magic, mischief and the trials and tribulations of love is preserved through well-chosen use of the original language and Coville's heady prose ("The queen... saw the ass-headed monstrosity through magic-drenched eyes"). Major plot lines are clearly and concisely rendered, but it is the portrayal of the various levels of humor-from Bottom's buffoonery to Puck's gleeful magic-making-that really captures the essence of the play. Nolan's (Dinosaur Dream) sumptuous, painterly watercolors highlight the theatrical setting of the spellbound wood. Gnarled, mossy trees provide the backdrop for a cast of unusually youthful lovers, gossamer-winged fairies (which nod at Rackham's famous interpretations) and a truly puckish Puck. A first-rate entre to the Bard. Ages 7-up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature - Armin A. Brott

Well, it's about time! For hundreds of years kids have read myths and fairy tales, but they've missed some of the best stories out there-Shakespeare. Well, no longer. John Escott deftly adapts one of the Bard's more complicated plays of confusion, mistaken identity, and love. And Eric Kincaid brings it to life with sprightly, engaging drawings-especially those of Bottom, the man with the donkey's head. Hopefully, this is but the first in a long series.

Children's Literature - Sheree Van Vreede