I have been wanting to read (and talk about) more Shakespeare ever since I read Hamnet a couple of years ago. So when my book club decided to start the year off with Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, I was thrilled. We thought it might be fun to read a play in 2023, so when we learned Romeo & Juliet was coming to the local theater in early March, it seemed like a sign. The night after book club, I told my kids I was going to see Romeo & Juliet with my book club friends; they asked if they could come along. What started as Ladies Night Out quickly became Mom and Kids' Night Out, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I love when we find ways for adult book club to be something the kids can be a part of too.
I try to read at least one Shakespeare story with my kids each year. Although I still feel intimidated by Shakespearean English, my kids really adore the stories. We haven’t attempted to read it in play form yet, but I think we may attempt it with Romeo & Juliet. I put together a list of resources for my book club and thought I’d share it here on the blog too.
If you want to be brave with us and read Romeo & Juliet with your kids, here are some of my favorite resources:
When introducing Shakespeare for the first time, I found it really helpful to read a book about Shakespeare in general before diving into the poetry & stories he wrote. If your kids (or you) don’t know anything about Shakespeare, William Shakespeare & The Globe is a fantastic picture book biography.
Bruce Coville has an entire series of Shakespeare picture books. They use the original language to tell the story, so it's a great way to introduce Shakespearean English. The artwork is gorgeous as well, so it makes for a great cozy read by the fire. Sometimes libraries will have them, or you can buy a pretty inexpensive copy of Romeo & Juliet here.
A Stage Full of Shakespeare has a bunch of stories in narrative form. I picked this up at Costco on a whim last year and the girls adore it.
Tales from Shakespeare by Tina Packer is another beautiful compilation book of stories. I learned about this one through our A Gentle Feast curriculum. The girls love the artwork and the way the stories are written..
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit is also a compilation, with language that is somewhere between modern and Shakespearean. Nesbit wrote several other favorite children’s books, including Five Children and It, The Enchanted Castle, and The Railway Children.
If you want to read Romeo & Juliet in play form, but want plain English, No Fear Shakespeare is a great way to begin. This is the one I’m going to try to read with my kids.
For the Graphic Novel lovers, this graphic novel by No Fear Shakespeare gets great reviews.
As does this one by Gareth Hinds. I love the diversity of characters in the artwork.
This graphic novel includes the original text of the play for those who want to dive in to Shakespearean English but need a few pictures to help them along the way.
Also—who knew there were so many graphic novels for Romeo & Juliet?!
If your kids get all about Shakespeare and want to read more on their own, my oldest loved The Shakespeare Stealer. It has more to do with Hamlet than Romeo & Juliet, but it’s a very fun novel about what life might have been like when Shakespeare (and his actors) were alive.
And also, this podcast from Sarah Mackenzie is really great (and not just for homeschoolers!) She makes reading Shakespeare sound so much fun!
Have you read Shakespeare with your kids? Have you read it on your own? I’d love to hear about your love (or hate) for Shakespeare!
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