Shakespeare: His Work and His World

The Bard’s enduring genius is both explained and explored for young readers—a perfect companion for both students and teachers of Shakespeare.

Tongue-tied. Dull as dishwater. Without rhyme or reason. Leapfrog. Excellent. Gloomy. These words and phrases, so much a part of our daily language, were coined by William Shakespeare more than four hundred years ago. In what other ways has Shakespeare shaped and influenced our words and culture? Find out with Michael Rosen’s fascinating exploration of the enduring genius of the greatest playwright in the English language, SHAKESPEARE: HIS WORK AND HIS WORLD. Learn what theatre was like when Shakespeare created and acted in his plays. With dramatic illustrations by Robert Ingpen, the fluid text is sprinkled with Shakespearean quotations to re-create the Bard’s world of kings and queens, fairies and potions, and bloody beheadings. This sweeping account is a biography, a history, and a retelling of some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays—all in one approachable volume.

Michael Rosen is an award-winning author and anthologist of books for young readers including CLASSIC POETRY: AN ILLUSTRATED COLLECTION, illustrated by Paul Howard. A lifelong Shakespeare fan, Michael Rosen says of this book, "When I was a kid, I was often taken to see Shakespeare’s plays, and my parents helped me to get hold of what was special about Shakespeare. I’ve written this book in hopes that I can do something along the lines of what my parents did for me."

Robert Ingpen was born in Australia in 1936 and has published more than one hundred acclaimed books. In 1986 he was awarded the highest international accolade for his work, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration.