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 Many years in the making, the picture book came to life just after I discovered Shakespeare. Like most people, I had heard of Shakespeare, and even used a famous phrase or two of his, but really I had no idea what he was about. Then after seeing the movie ‘Shakespeare in Love’, things changed. I went out the next day and bought a copy of Romeo and Juliet. For the next few months, I read it over and over. I found empty classrooms at the graduate school I was attending, and stood there, often times in tears, reciting Act Two to a hundred empty seats. The experience very much affected me, and also gave me something new and exciting to look forward to.
Later that year, after getting some college loan money, I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, England. During my visit, I found myself standing in the bright green grass, touching the stone wall of Holy Trinity Church (where Shakespeare was baptized and is buried). It was amazing and surreal. With my left hand pressed to the wall, and my right hand holding open a copy of Shakespeare's play titled ‘As You Like It ’, I imagined that Shakespeare himself might have stood right here…right where I was standing. I pretended his spirit was smiling down on me.
Back home again, I found that reading about Shakespeare was as good as reading his actual writings. The university library where I studied had something like 500 books about Shakespeare. I kept reading, more and more. What intrigued me most was work done in the 20th century that helped identify which plays were printed from Shakespeare’s original manuscripts. The most popular version of Romeo and Juliet that we have today appears to have come directly from pages written in Shakespeare’s hand. I love that. Then though, after much reading, I came to an unsettling conclusion. In his work, alongside phrases of unparalleled poetic beauty were the countless expressions of violent, treacherous, and maligned human nature. I don’t much like that kind of thing and definitely don’t think that children should hear about it.
And so, in producing the picture book, I compromised. By directly quoting Shakespeare’s work, the book presents an unaltered link to his expressive and literary genius. Then, to be sure that kids are not prematurely exposed to unsavory depictions of human nature, the quotes were paired with new illustrations that display a more positive interpretation. This is the composition of Shakespeare for Children. It is, I think, a beautiful and accurate edition of Shakespeare’s work that embraces the sensibilities of modern child development.
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