Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for Kids by Brendan P. Kelso

I fairly raved about Brendan Kelso's version of Shakespeare's Hamlet because the children and I enjoyed it so much (see review here). But I think we enjoyed Julius Caesar even more.

I read it first with my 8 year-old son and you can well imagine how delighted he was with all the sword swinging and stabbings. Dave liked it so much, in fact, that he immediately insisted that we re-read the story again, this time a longer version, and this time with the aid of his older sister.

We did, and the three of us had a blast.

Now, for how the book is organized. The interesting thing about Brendan's Shakespeare for Kids series is that the books actually contain 3 slightly different versions of each play. All of the versions take about 10-15 minutes to read or act out, but the number of speaking parts .AND. the degree of plot complexity varies with the version.

But let me give you an example of how this works.

Here are the characters in the first version of Julius Caesar for Kids:

Julius Caesar
Mark Antony
Ocatvius
Brutus
Cassius
Pindarus
Soothsayer
Townsfolk

The Second version includes the following additional characters:

Decius
Lucius
Pompey
Narrator

While the Third version includes:

Calpurnia
Cinna
Casca
Portia
Cinna the Poet

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that though the plays are very rewritten, that they contain direct quotes from the original. These familiar lines are highlighted so kids will sit up and take note.

THE SKINNY:::
This book is so much fun. My 8 year-old son and I read it aloud together and he immediately said we needed to read it again, this time including his sister.

The parts that should have been grisly were downright funny -- which is why my kids wanted to read it again and again. The point was not lost, however, that the original was a tragedy.

I think that having three different stagings makes the plays very adaptable to different situations. You can essentially pick the length and degree of complexity that best fits your situation.

I'm am so pleased by this series because it allows me to introduce Shakespeare to my children much earlier than I had thought possible. It allows us to discuss the plays on their level, and it introduces them to the Bard's best known lines so that when we hear them in other places, we are reminded of where the phrases come from.

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar for Kids:
3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes