The Tempest for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun!)
Grade 2-4-Sticking closely to the series format, Burdett retells the story of The Tempest in rhyming couplets. Her students' drawings filled in with clear bright marker colors, along with the children's boxed comments, provide the book's primary appeal. The main text is distinctly plodding-especially when compared with the original. While it's true that the simple couplets might be easy for an adult to understand at first glance, they are not exactly a breeze for early readers, the audience for this book. It would require almost as much effort to use this text for a performance (as suggested) as it would to perform scenes from the original work or to have children create their own improvisations on the story. Burdett's techniques for exciting children about Shakespeare certainly seem to work well with her own classes. It seems sad that other youngsters might be handed a finished product rather than the fun of creating their own interpretations. The final page contains suggestions for parents and teachers.Sally Margolis, Barton Public Library, VTCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.