'The barge she sat in like a burnished throne, burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold, purple the sails...' A lyrical re-telling of Shakespeare's plays; Hamlet, The Tempest, Anthony and Cleopatra and Othello by respected children's author Beverley Birch, partnered with sublime illustrations by Stephen Lambert. A perfect introduction to these landmark plays.

 

There are 128 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2008 by Hachette Children's Group .

Beverley was born in London, grew up in Kenya and came to Britain for the first time to take A levels. She graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Economics and Sociology. After travelling in Africa, America, Europe and the Middle East, Beverley joined Penguin as an editor. Since then she has continued to work in publishing - at present she combines writing and working as an editor here at Hodder. She has two daughters and is married to photographer Nick Birch. Stephen Lambert graduated from Lincoln College of Art in 1984 and soon turned his attention to children's book illustration. He lives and works in Cornwall. Geraldne McCaughrean is a highly-acclaimed writer of children's fiction and picture books and is particularly known for her retellings. She lives in a village in Berkshire. Rene Weis is Professor of English at University College London and a distinguished editor and biographer of Shakespeare.