Customer Reviews

Shakespeare for Children

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I never read Shakespeare, but wanted my children to experience him. I bought this tape thinking I would listen to it, and maybe my young kids (5 & 3) would like it in a few years. They LOVE it now. They actually ask for it over the Arthur and Disney tapes. How great is that!
Now I am buying one for my daughter's 1st grade teacher.

I could never comprehend Shakespeare in highschool. As a homeschooler now of 4 children, I wanted to "enrich" my children's literary repertiore so I bought this tape for them. Well, I can't tell who likes it more the kids or myself. Jim Weiss is EXCELLENT in depicting the character voices and the dramatic nuances are an absolute riot. If the rating system allowed, I would have given it 10 stars!

*sigh* The assumptions others have drawn at the thought of a younger child who enjoys Shakespeare or other classics! My 5.5 year-old liked the sound of a BBC radio version of The Tempest that I was listening to and wanted more stories like it so I ordered this. She totally enjoyed this. I would like to assure our friends over the pond that she is otherwise perfectly normal and enjoys Spongebob just as much.

I think it's a good review for parents, however, my 3.5 and 5.5 year old were quite lost with so many human characters and numerous "creature" characters that it made the story rather confusing and hard to follow. Also, the topics of romance, marriage, engagement, etc are still beyond them at this point. We have 4 other Jim Weiss Cds and we are throughly in love with them and play them often. This one might be better for them in a few years.

My 5 1/2 y.o. daughter and I both enjoyed these two stories. The magic of Shakespeare is still there; just in easy language for children to understand.

We recommend and have purchased for other friends.

Mahalo...we love listening to this tape! My eight old asks to listen to if often.

Sigh. The hyper-competitive parenting in the US makes me dread our move there next year. In Lake Wobegon the children are all above average, but the children of Amazon reviewers are all geniuses. So, of course the 3 year old is way beyond mere childish stories- no, the little darling is ready for Shakespeare. And if little darling doesn't get it, it is clearly the fault of the storyteller.

Why not let them wait a bit for something? let them get enough experience of the world to enjoy it?

Weiss's CD is a great way to meet the Bard- especially for somebody over 8 or so. The stories are accessible and simplified but not simplistic. The voices are clear and consistent, so that each character becomes recognizable. Our girls have listened to this over and over again. They have read the simplified versions of the plays. And this summer we will take them to their first Shakespeare play. It has been a lovely, gradual introduction, that has built a base of familiarity and enjoyment that should be able to withstand even secondary school Shakespeare class!

Shakespeare can be made cool for kids.