Romeo and Juliet - A Shakespeare Children's Story: A Net Galley Review

Confession: I'm an English teacher and I do not like Shakespeare's plays. 

I honestly don't even know if that is legal. I fondly remember my high school English teacher dramatically portraying Shakespeare. I happily enjoyed both Honors Sophomore English and AP English my senior year with Mrs. Moore. As much as I loved her and her class, I never loved Shakespeare's plays. Still, I acknowledge his immense importance to the furtherance of language and literature so I want my children to be familiar with his plays. So I look to wonderful resources like Romeo and Juliet: A Shakespeare Children's Story by Sweet Cherry Publishing for their first experience. 

Now if you remember the story of Shakespeare, you may not find any of it fit for young children as is! I certainly did not. However, Sweet Cherry Publishing has done an admirable work in crafting a kid-friendly version that is both entertaining and true to the text while leaving out some of the more sordid and explicit details. 

One thing I greatly enjoyed was the line sketches throughout. They were darling, yet not too child-like. I liked that they were black and white sketches so they both added to the storytelling without distracting the reader so much they lost track of the story. 

I also liked the reading level which it is geared towards. Very young readers can be introduced to the stories of Shakespeare in a way that is appropriate and gentle. This is such an excellent first-experience for anyone! And I'll let you in on a secret...if I had read stories like these first, I may not have disliked Shakespeare so much!
Disclaimer: I was given this title through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.