JANE SUTCLIFFE is author of Stone Giant- Michelangelo's David and
How He Came to Be, The White House Is Burning- August 24, 1814, and
more than two dozen other books for children. Jane lives in
Tolland, Connecticut.
JOHN SHELLEY grew up near Shakespeare's birthplace at
Stratfordupon-Avon. He has illustrated more than forty children's
books, including Stone Giant- Michelangelo's David and How He Came
to Be and Family Reminders. John lives in Norwich, England.
*Focusing on the now commonplace words that Shakespeare introduced
into the English language, Sutcliffe describes the inner workings
of the Globe Theatre and the Bard’s genius. The verso of each
spread presents historical facts about Elizabethan London and the
theatrical tradition it spawned, with Shakespeare’s words
interspersed amid Sutcliffe’s lively prose, while the recto
highlights the words, explains their meanings (both original and
contemporary), and cites their usage in the poet’s plays. Shelley’s
meticulously detailed painted pen-and-ink drawings brim with life
and convey a clear sense of 1606 London, “a bustling, jostling,
clinging, singing, stinking, head-chopping, pickpocketing wonder of
a city,” while still managing to individualize the personages both
onstage and off. They are perfectly married to Sutcliff’s concise,
humorous, fact-filled prose. While the author references the few
known truths of Shakespeare’s life, the emphasis is on his
once-inventive but now familiar words, thus setting this title
apart from most standard biographies. Readers will discover the
origins of basic terms and expressions, such as hurry, fashionable,
and cold-blooded. The book opens and concludes with a letter from
Sutcliffe laying out her intentions in penning this work and
discussing what we know of Shakespeare’s life. Pair this gem with
Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema’s Bard of Avon: The Story of
William Shakespeare (Morrow, 1992) for a full portrait of
Shakespeare’s genius. VERDICT A beautifully presented, original
approach to the playwright’s lasting contributions to the English
language.
-School Library Journal, starred review
Sutcliffe presents an enjoyable, if slightly rocky, introductory
reconnaissance into Shakespeare's wordplay. Shakespeare could turn
a phrase, and Sutcliffe brings a number of them to readers'
attention, smartly worked into a vest-pocket history of London
theater during Shakespeare's days. Shelley's artwork is a lively
accompaniment, delicate in color and linework but bustling as only
a big population in small confines can be. Each double-page spread
presents a few paragraphs of text about London theater on verso,
the occasional word or phrase printed in boldface. On recto are
boxed items that give the meanings of the highlighted words—and how
some have changed considerably: "wild-goose chase" meant a horse
race with the leader and followers in the shape of geese in flight;
now it means a useless search. The location of the words in
Shakespeare's works is also provided, and there's a handy timeline
at the end of the book. There are gems—"too much of a good thing,"
"a sorry sight," "foul play" ("fair play," too)—but then there are
some complete mysteries: "excitement," "fashionable," "well
behaved," all of which underwhelm. Why bother with these when there
are so many goodies to choose from? "Crack of doom," "break the
ice," "brave new world"—treasures all. Still, even if what's done
is done, there is absolutely no need to knit a brow or make short
shrift of this well-tempered piece of work.
-Kirkus Reviews
Despite both title and subtitle, the value of this picture book
lies in its delightful, realistic illustrations and the simple
text's introduction to Elizabethan theater. About 30 terms
Shakespeare either coined or made common are included meaningfully
in the narrative, a pair or so on each two-page spread. The
narrative itself explains the place of theater in Londoners' daily
lives (for both audience members and actors), the Globe Theatre's
architecture, and how Shakespeare's verbal richness spread into
daily figures of speech. But it's the illustrations that steal the
show. Each spread is crowded with intricate, colorful details that
seem to spring to life in, for instance, a cutaway of backstage
actions, the crowd arriving for an afternoon's performance, how
different social classes positioned themselves during the play,
London street scenes, and so on. These watercolor and pen-and-ink
images invite endless searching of the crowds' unique faces and
Thames River vistas.
-Booklist
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