Hamlet [Hardcover]

Bruce Coville (Author), Leonid Gore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

There is arguably no work of fiction quoted as often as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This haunting tragedy has touched audiences for centuries. Now Bruce Coville makes this play the next of his dynamic adaptations of the Bard for the young. Once again, he expertly incorporates essential lines from the play into his own rich prose to tell the tale of the ill-fated Prince of Denmark.

Acclaimed artist Leonid Gore adds intense, dreamlike images in acrylic and pastel. His depictions of Hamlet, Ophelia, and the rest of the kingdom are revelatory and unforgettable, helping to make this masterful volume a treasure for Shakespeare enthusiasts old and new.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8--Coville's knack for making Shakespeare's tales accessible reaches new heights in this prose retelling of the Bard's best-known play. Not only is the text incredibly faithful to the original, but the language that surrounds the quoted dialogue is also amazingly rich. As the author's note explains, all of the elements of a compelling epic are here: "ghosts, murder, madness, and revenge," and Coville gives youngsters the opportunity "to experience Hamlet as story" before exploring the depths of its poetic language and its intensity as a staged drama. His carefully chosen words suit the mood of the haunting tragedy and bring about the desired emotional effect in readers. For instance, the ghost that appears to the soldiers standing guard is described as "a spectral shade whose chill, silent presence struck fear into their hearts." Done predominately in shades of blue and orange, Gore's acrylic-and-pastel artwork underscores the sharp contrast between the protagonist's periods of brooding and his angry outbursts. While the facial features are not particularly distinctive, the mood of the play is reinforced by the overall tone of the illustrations and by the artist's masterful use of shadow. The texture of the paintings, which allows the lines of the figures to both blend into and protrude from their backgrounds, provides a visual sense of Hamlet's indecisiveness. This is a gem for all collections, a surefire way of introducing middle and perhaps even high school scholars to the glories of Shakespeare's genius.--Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. Retelling Hamlet as a coherent story is no mean feat, but this handsome edition achieves it with grace and style. Unlike those retellers who fall into the trap of stringing famous passages together with bridges of stark prose, Coville conveys the mood and movement of the play as well as its characters and plot. The writing includes some Shakespearean language, but incorporates it smoothly into the story. With plenty of white space, a good-size type, and at least one large, shadowy illustration on each double-page spread, this large-format book's design is sophisticated yet accessible to middle-grade children. Gore's sensitive acrylic and pastel artwork, dark and richly atmospheric, suggests the players and the action without defining too much. Like Coville's previous retellings of Shakespeare, this is a fine introduction to a quintessential play. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Dial (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803727089
• ISBN-13: 978-0803727083
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,148,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Coville was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1950. His family lived in farm territory, about twenty miles north of Syracuse. Bruce grew up around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time as a child, dodging cows and chores to the best of his ability. As a young reader he loved Mary Poppins and Dr. Dolittle, and still has fond memories of rising ahead of the rest of his family so he could huddle in a chair and read THE VOYAGES OF DR. DOLITTLE. He also read lots of things that people consider junk (Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and zillions of comic books). His only real regret is the time he spent watching television, when he could have been reading instead. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste!)

His first book, THE FOOLISH GIANT, was published in 1978. It was illustrated by his wife, Katherine, whom he had married in 1969. This was followed in 1979 by SARAH'S UNICORN, also illustrated by Katherine. After a long period of working separately, the Covilles began collaborating again with SPACE BRAT and GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE, both published in 1992.

Before getting published Bruce earned his living as a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, and finally as an elementary school teacher (second and fourth grades). He left teaching in 1981 to devote himself to becoming a full time writer - though it took another five years to achieve that goal!)

Bruce has published nearly 100 books, which have appeared in over a dozen countries around the world and sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS, and THE MONSTER'S RING. In 2001 he founded Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company dedicated to creating unabridged, full cast recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unruly Hamlet for middle schoolers, May 4, 2004

By 

G. DeCandido "LadyHawk" (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hamlet (Hardcover)

Coville, a veteran writer who notes he has been studying Hamlet for 30 years, makes a coherent narrative from this eternally unruly story, leavening it with direct quotes from Shakespeare's play. Even dialogue, however, is often emended, albeit richly in a modern idiom. Gore wields acrylics and pastels to fine atmospheric effect using a palette of alternating deep blues or burnished browns lightened with white and gold. His figures slip into and out of the foreground like actors on a stage, and the ghost is magnificent. For middle schoolers not quite ready for the real thing, this works.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Advanced Accelerated Reader Book, January 27, 2009

By 

Joni Caldwell "reikijoni" (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hamlet (Hardcover)

Bruce Coville's rendition of the famous Hamlet is an excellent read for children, educators and parents alike. It has intrigued my son about Shakespeare and prompted us to order this series of books because he wants to know more about the other characters and stories in the world of Shakespeare!

We are learning that it is often challenging to find appropriate reading material for children whose skills in reading are above their grade level for their age and maturity.

This book is listed on the Accelerated Reader Program at grade 5.5 for my son's elementary school point-based school reading program, and it is also highly appropriate for a eight to nine year old child to read.

The characters and plot development are interesting but not too hard for a young child to comprehend and actually enjoy. The art and presentation of the book are age appropriate as well as beautifully done.

Thank you Bruce Coville, for bringing Shakespeare into our home so early!

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare, illuminated!, October 28, 2004

By 

E. Fox (Oregon Coast USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hamlet (Hardcover)

Alas, poor Yorick! If only this book had been available to me in middle school so many years ago, I might have enjoyed the Shakespeare studies in college! Coville deftly, delicately weaves the intricate tale of Hamlet, remaining true to Shakespeare's milieu, language, and character, but illuminating the plot with action and suspense. It is an exciting presentation that would leave students hungry for more Shakespeare; Coville is a miracle-worker. Many of the more famous lines of the play are left intact, making it easy for teachers to draw parallels between Coville's version and the original. This is not surprising, considering Coville's background as an actor, playwright, and teacher. Gore's illustrations are just right: cloudy, dark, filled with despair, and yet too interesting to ignore. Exploring his shadowy pastel and linework technique would make a great classroom exercise to further illuminate the story line. This is a book that obviously was carefully and lovingly crafted; I would strongly recommend it as an addition to all middle school libraries.