Shakespeare

I wasn't blogging near as much last fall, and this week I came across some of Alexandra's drawings that are precious to me. We studied Shakespeare briefly while studying about England. The photo above is of Alexandra's drawing of Queen Titania. The picture below is her drawing of Puck. Both were her copies of children's drawings in "A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids."

Here is a list of our resources:

• A Child's Portrait of Shakespeare by Lois Burdett - A great intro to William Shakespeare's life.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids by Burdett - Ms. Burdett produces Shakespeare plays with her very young children (around 2nd/3rd grade if I remember correctly). In her series, Shakespeare Can Be Fun!, the books are illustrated by her students. Alexandra drew all of the main characters from this play by choosing her favorite illustrations from this book and trying to copy the kids' drawings. I just loved the book & loved Alexandra's enthusiasm. I was surprised that a child barely 5 could enjoy Shakespeare so much. She was saying, "I love Shakespeare!"
• Shakespeare for Children CD by storyteller, Jim Weiss - Includes "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Taming of the Shrew."
• William Shakespeare: the Master Playwright by Middleton (a What's Their Story? book) - We like this series and this was another good biography.
• Stagefright on a Summer's Night (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne (added May 2006) - Alexandra loves the Jack &Annie & this book ties in nicely with Shakespeare