Child's Portrait of Shakespeare FROM THE PUBLISHER
"If you want to share the artistic genious of the past with your Nintendo generation, here is a wonderful book whose color, words, and textures will grabb the attention of the most devoted cybernaut."--The Toronto Star. Full color.
FROM THE CRITICS
Gisela Jernigan
Combines a lively, often humorous biographical poem ... with even livelier and amusing color drawings. —Children's Literature
Ray Doiron
A wonderfully rich example of how young children absorb language and make it their own ... Highly recommended.
Anne Barry
Can easily be used and enjoyed by teachers and students anywhere.
Children's Literature - Gisela Jernigan
For the past 20 years, Lois Burdett, a second grade teacher in Stratford, Ontario, has tried to introduce her young students to the life, times and some of the works of William Shakespeare. Her success in proving that Shakespeare can be fun is evident in this biography, which combines a lively, often humorous biographical poem, written by Burdett with even livelier and amusing color drawings, and pieces, (often pretend letters and journal entries), produced by the students. Every drawing and written excerpt includes the name and age of it's creator. A foreword, family tree and page of useful learning activities and suggestions is included. This book could inspire other teachers and students, especially those considering projects involving subjects or people usually considered too mature or difficult for younger students to attempt.
School Library Journal
Gr 1-3Between the covers of this slim volume is the sort of material parents glow over at back-to-school nights. Burdett refers to the project as her seven-and eight-year-old students' ``unedited work.'' Their lively art portraying Shakespeare and scenes from his life seems to have been polished for publication. But the letters and diary entries that the youngsters have imagined for William and his family, reproduced with all their cuteness and misspellings intact, are appealing for their imaginative precocity and breadth of knowledge. The drawings and writings accompany short, labored verses that give the facts of Shakespeare's life accurately, though the forced rhyme is especially glaring in a book about the Bard. There is a strong sense of a well-meaning adult's heavy hand, and if that hand were involved, why did it not remove the grammatical errors? This book is the result of efforts that were clearly fun and enlightening for the children and serves as a good example for other teachers. But it's questionable whether reading about it will have as much appeal or educational impact as doing it.Sally Margolis, formerly at Deerfield Public Library, IL
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