To be or not to be? That is the question...

A murdered king, his haunted son, a wicked stepfather and a doomed romance... Read on, through madness and mystery, to discover the calamitous tale at the heart of Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies.

Contains information about the background to Hamlet, its major themes, language, and Shakespeare's life during the time he was writing the play. Madness, and how it was treated in 16th century England, is also examined, to give some context in which the play was written.

The Short, Sharp Shakespeare series consists of six books that retell Shakespeare's most famous plays in modern English. Clever illustrations accompany each title, making them a great introduction to the Bard for children aged 9 and above.

This book is part of a book series called Short, Sharp Shakespeare Stories .

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

There are 80 pages in this book. This book was published 2016 by Hachette Children's Group .

Tom Morgan-Jones is an award winning illustrator whose work has appeared everywhere from children's books to buses and milk cartons to magazines. He has a sideline in satirical board games, and his work in this area is held in major collections including the V&A, Bodleian Library and GOMA, and has been exhibited in the Berlin Academy of Arts. Anna Claybourne has been a writer and editor of children's non-fiction for over eight years.

This book has the following chapters:

• 1: Introducing Hamlet
• 2: Hamlet
• 3: Hamlet at a glance
• 4: The story of Hamlet
• 5: Shakespeare and Hamlet
• 6: Staging Hamlet
• 7: Hamlet: Themes and symbols
• 8: Insanity
• 9: The language of Hamlet
• 10: What Hamlet means now
• 11: Glossary
• 12: Hamlet quiz