Shakespeare for Kids: What Shakespeare Stories are Appropriate for the Young Minds?

5 Recommended Shakespeare Adaptations That Kids Will Truly Enjoy

We all love Shakespeare for his themes of conflict, love, and tragedy. With his exceptional control over Old English, it is only necessary to teach his works at school. But are Shakespeare’s stories appropriate to kids? When they begin learning how to read and write, Shakespeare can already be taught. Just leave the gore out and you’re good to go.

Shakespeare, in fact, has been adapted for children. If ever you decide to make Shakespeare books for kids, here are some of the best works that has preserved the essence of what truly is Shakespearean.

Tales from Shakespeare

by Charles and Mary Lamb

The stories remain true to the originals and it also includes Shakespeare’s dialogues. However, the Lambs carefully selected the language suitable to young minds. Popularized during the 1800s, this version of Twelfth Night had set the standard for all Shakespeare adaptations.

The Children’s Shakespeare

by Edith Nesbit

Though the writings are a century old, Edith Nesbit enchants the reader with plain description. As a mother, Edith understands how important simplicity is to kids. The eleven plays featured in her book, written in modern English and each in less than ten pages, allow children to be captivated with Shakespeare.

How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare

by Ken Ludwig

The book is a foolproof but fun guide to teaching children with works of William Shakespeare. Learning Shakespeare at an early age provides a head start in life. In How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, Ken Ludwig provides instructions on how to instill an understanding and love to Shakespeare’s works, while enjoying every minute of reading it.

Romeo and Juliet for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun!)

by Lois Burdett

“Who is William Shakespeare?” For twenty years, Lois Burdett constantly asks this question to her elementary school students in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, to let them discover the beauty of Shakespeare. Written in rhyming couplets, the book is suitable for staging class plays and for reading aloud. Romeo and Juliet for Kids is one out of eight books in the Shakespeare Can Be Fun! series.

Stories from Shakespeare

by Geraldine McCaughrean

Geraldine McCaughrean has won awards for her brilliant telling of classic texts. In Stories from Shakespeare, she adapted ten plays that children will enjoy. Some of these include Henry the Fifth, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. Written in colorful prose, this book makes a perfect introduction to Shakespeare. The text includes well-known quotations and each play starts with a cast list for easy reference. Children will find Shakespeare a smooth and easy learning.

Language has always been Shakespeare’s most powerful tool in mesmerizing readers. There is elegance in his words and the stories are impassioned. Shakespeare has been a benchmark for most classic writers, but it is not only the way of writing that we can follow. We can freely adapt his stories to different people as long as we know what our readers want.