Customer Reviews

Childsplay: A Collection of Scenes and Monologues for Children

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I expected another dreary book of original monologues that had no subtext and no where to go. But this collection has popular playwrights like Tina Howe, Sam Shepard and more, will real storylines and deep characters. My only regret is that some of the finest work is too full of cuss words for the children I teach in the Bible belt. The author seems substantial with many merits to his name. Enjoyable reading for any age, especially people curious and excited about the workings of young minds. Many of the scenes were written especially for some youngster to help deal with a situation or conflict. In my opinion, any imagination work that concentrates on freeing the self and helping other to do the same is highly beneficial. Hey, one of these kids may even be just like your inner child! Enjoy!

I was hoping for a collection of fun, intelligent, and imaginative scenes and monologues for my kids to perform. Instead, I find a bunch of hackneyed dross about children as victims--victims of bullying, victims of bad parents, victims of society,etc. Scene after scene is about children who've lost parents, or children in poverty, or children abused. And the scenes are so over the top as to make the characters almost comical. The only thing designed to challenge children are the contrived plot lines through which the character reveals how she/he has lost her/his parents/grandparent/sibling and is now living on the streets/running away/one meal away from starvation. What child wouldn't like to tackle the monologue entitled "The Day My Father Died." Most of the scenes and monologues are also written at a low reading level. Yuck. The only reason I didn't give this pitiable book one fewer star is because there are two or three adequate scenes and monologues. I found a much better book of plays--Plays Children Love, Volume II. Edited by Coleman Jennings.

I was in 2 of the scenes fetured in this book and saw several other(my theater group had a montage production). I have also seen some of the full plays the scenes were taken from. I would highly recommend this book to drama teachers of students anywhere from 9-14. These are the cuteest plays, especially Charlie Brown, Lemon Sisters,and Brighton Beach Memoirs. Get it!!

I have been teaching theatre skills to youth of all ages for 15 years, and it is nearly impossible to find collections of short, clever scenes that consistently leave kids (and their parents) smiling and impressed. This book is literally the only one in my large personal library of theatre education books that I use over and over again, particularly in theatre classes and camps for kids ages 8 to 14. Scenes such as "Befriending Bertha", "Sammy Carducci's Guide to Life", "Scientist Meets Fish", and "To Bee or Not To Bee" are challenging and lighthearted enough to instill in kids teamwork and the fun of acting. Ms. Muir, is there any chance you will be creating another collection like this? If so, I look forward to it.

I bought this book for my daughter to practice with to improve her acting skills when she goes on auditions. We have loved it and would enjoy it even if her goal wasn't to be an actor.

This book is golden!!! I teach teatre to 8 to 12-year-olds, and I haven't found any other book that I use nearly as much as this one. All of the plays are perfect for kids and pre-teens. With only a couple exceptions, the characters are all kids that my students can relate to. A few of the monologues are even written by kids. They vary from funny, to serious, to sad, and all of my students are able to find pieces that they enjoy out of this book. One favorite of both students and audiences is "Bee or Not to Bee," a humorous scene about a bee who disguises itself as a chipmunk to sneek onto Noah's Ark. Others worth mentioning are "Scientist Meets Fish," "Lemon Sisters," "Charlie Brown," and "Afternoon of the Elves." I highly recommend this book!

Got this book for an advanced Children's Acting class. If I had time I would scour through plays to find good monologues but this book has done that for you. I think it has a pretty good balance between comedic and dramatic scenes. These scenes and monologues have more depth because it has a whole story (play) to support it. Love that there is a description of the what is happening in the scene.

This may not be good for beginner students because accents are used and often mature themes. But if you are looking to train and work with possible working actors, this is a great choice.

It can be challenging to find suitable material for child actors. Muir offers a place to start with this book. Some classics like '1000 Cranes' (from the book about Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes), 'You're a Good Man Charlie Brown,' 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' and others. Some material is dark and deep. But Muir summarizes the themes nicely before each piece. The monologues at the end are also interesting - some written by elementary school children.