Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness Books) [Hardcover]

Peter Chrisp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2004 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: DK Eyewitness Books

New Look! Relaunched with new jackets and 8 pages of new text!

Here is an original and exciting guide to the daily life, heady successes, and remarkable works of a talented playwright. Spectacular full-color photographs of costumes, jewels, sackbuts, violas, trapdoors, and actors offer a unique "eyewitness" view of William Shakespeare, his patrons at the royal court, and the birth of modern theater in Europe. See Shakespeare's family homes and haunts, famous Elizabethan actors and playwrights, an amazing cutaway reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, how actors faked a beheaded body. Learn where Shakespeare found his best sources of inspiration, why heroines were played by boy actors, why players needed a protector, how to stage a swordfight, who stinkards were. Discover how fashion-conscious people dressed, how Elizabethans performed startling stage effects, friends and foes in cutthroat London, the highlights of Shakespeare's comedies, tragedies, Roman plays, history plays, and romances, and much, much more.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

William Shakespeare was born into an utterly fascinating time and place: 16th-century England. Eyewitness Books brings this era alive in the spectacular, modestly titled Shakespeare. Crammed with vivid photos of replicas and actual items from Shakespeare's time, the oversized volume shares with readers everything they ever wanted to know (and some things they probably didn't want to know) about the Bard, from details of his birthplace to descriptions of Queen Elizabeth's court (and clothing) to an explanation of how actors portrayed beheaded characters on stage. Curious readers will spend hour upon hour perusing this densely packed volume, and come away with a head full of knowledge about apple wives, the Globe Theatre, "nipping a bung" (purse snatching), the plague, bizarre face lotions, toothless bears, and religious conflict, not to mention a bit about Shakespeare's plays. Eyewitness: Shakespeare joins stacks of other fine Eyewitness titles, including Ancient Greece, Presidents, and Time & Space. (Ages 10 and older) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10-A look at a variety of topics pertaining to Elizabethan society in general and to Shakespeare's life in particular. Each spread sports a short introduction accompanied by numerous captioned photos and reproductions of places, people, and objects. Text and illustrations combine to enable readers to acquire a quick understanding of many interesting details that might be either overlooked or lost in a more standard prose text. For example, there are close-up photos of beautifully embroidered gloves and intricate carvings on a child's chair, items owned by wealthy Elizabethans. In addition, there is information that is sure to appeal to readers who might mistakenly regard Elizabethans as "stuffy," such as the fact that they "kicked footballs made from inflated pigs' bladders" or that "coneycatchers" (gamblers who cheated) were commonplace. The text and illustrations are superb, and the thorough index makes the material readily accessible. However, some may find that the order of topics isn't always logical. For instance, the spread on "Science and superstition" seems out of place between the explanations of Shakespeare's plays and a discussion of his return to Stratford. Nevertheless, the overall usefulness of the title, both for browsing as well as for reference purposes, outweighs this minor problem. A good companion to Shakespeare's plays and to standard nonfiction works, this title will also be of interest to those who, having read novels such as Gary Blackwood's Shakespeare's Scribe (Dutton, 2000), wish to learn more about the Bard's life and times.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (August 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075660723X
• ISBN-13: 978-0756607234
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,068,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great supplementary book for classroom, January 5, 2011

By 

Christine - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness Books) (Hardcover)

I used this book in a senior English classroom to supplement the curriculum and give my students some context before we started Hamlet. The information is presented in a simple way with a lot of visual representation, which makes it an effective tool to appeal to many different learning styles. Although the pictures are large and the amount of text is limited, the book is not written in a way that talks down to students. My students really enjoyed the project we did based on information in this book. The sections about the plague, religion, and warfare were particularly helpful in relation to Hamlet.

(The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, Amazon or the review requester.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Shakespeare Information, May 10, 2009

By 

J. L. Wright "B4 All" (NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness Books) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare and to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. I found my children very interested in the pictures and then asking about the information. I must say that I have yet to find any DK Eyewitness Books that were not wonderful. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the man or the time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for teachers, February 13, 2009

By 

A. Baldwin "bungakushoujo" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness Books) (Hardcover)

My students love this book! I use it every year when I introduce my freshmen to Shakespeare and his world for the first time. They are most fascinated by the boy being transformed into a female character.

There's much to learn in there for teachers and lovers of Shakespeare as well.