Romeo and Juliet for Kids

Krystyna J. Higgins is the former book review editor for the Catholic
New Times.

Lois Burdett’s uncanny ability to make Shakespeare accessible and
enjoyable for the very young has won her international acclaim. As actor
Colm Feore says of the Stratford elementary-school teacher in his
foreword, “She has found a way to blow the dust off Old Bill and let
her students revel in their understanding.” Reading this latest
offering in her Shakespeare Can Be Fun series, one easily understands
why.

The rhyming couplets retain the flavor of the original perfectly, with
some of the more famous of the Bard’s lines kept intact (as in the
balcony scene, for instance). Each page of text is enriched by
hand-printed letters from various characters as well as by charming
illustrations—all the work of 7- to 10-year-olds. The “letters”
range from the poetic (“Pools of love trickled down my cheeks”) to
the colloquial (“Romeo, get a life!”), but without exception they
attest to an imaginative grasp of Shakespeare’s tale that is
extraordinary in such young children.

Though Burdett’s version of Romeo and Juliet is somewhat simplified,
it is anything but simplistic. Both the range of human emotion and the
vocabulary are challenging. Designed to “stretch” a child’s
understanding, these books should ideally be read aloud, with some adult
guidance and participation. Burdett even appends a list of activities
for children in the classroom or in the home. Highly recommended.