Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Brick Shakespeare: the Tragedies

McCann, John with Monica Sweeney and Becky Thomas.  Brick Shakespeare, The Tragedies.  2013.  Skyhorse Publishing.  New York, NY.

Book Talk:
Brick Shakespeare : the tragedies - Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar
All hail MacBeth!  Hail to thee, Thane of Cowder.

It is the East, and Juliet is the son!

William Shakespeare wrote some of the most classic literature in the English Language.  Unfortunately, the language is a product of Shakespeare's time, and is difficult for our modern ears to understand.

Enter Brick Shakespeare!  Whimsically illustrated as a graphic novel, 4 of Shakespeare's great tragedies are brought to life graphic novel style with the assistance of Lego characters and sets.

The words are Shakespeare's - but the pictures are uniquely modern.  Every act begins with a narration that details the action and importance of the action in that scene to the overall action in the play.

Bettina's Note:
This is, hands down, my all time favorite version of Shakespeare.  I enjoyed spotting the different Lego characters throughout the tragedies.  I found Princess Leia, several Jedi, and Samwise Gamgee.  And the best part of all?  This book presents as a graphic novel.  Love, love, love this book!