Shakespeare’s Plays: A First Folio for Children

Created in partnership with Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, this remarkable collection includes thirty-six abridged plays from Shakespeare’s First Folio, exuberantly illustrated by Emily Sutton.

Young hams, drama queens, and lovers of old-time language, rejoice! Four hundred years after its publication, Shakespeare’s First Folio has found a brand-new crop of enthusiasts. This gorgeous collection comprises all the plays in the original volume--fourteen comedies, ten histories, and twelve tragedies--each edited so it can be performed by eight to twelve children age seven and up in under twenty minutes. Lovingly abridged by Dr. Anjna Chouhan, a senior lecturer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Shakespeare’s First Folio: The Plays: A Children’s Edition uses the original language, allowing kids a taste of choice words such as sluggardized and rampallian as well as famous lines like ＂Friends, Romans, countrymen＂ and ＂Once more unto the breach.＂ Lavishly and energetically illustrated by Emily Sutton, whose meticulous research was inspired by the holdings of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, this keepsake volume is designed to ensure that every child has a positive first experience with the Bard and to preserve his legacy for future generations.

Emily Sutton graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a degree in illustration. She is the illustrator of Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes, Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth, Grow: Secrets of Our DNA, and A First Book of the Sea, all by Nicola Davies, as well as The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy and Betty and the Mysterious Visitor by Anne Twist. In addition to illustrating picture books, she paints, sculpts, and designs prints. Emily Sutton lives in England. Follow her on Instagram @EmilySuttonArtist.