Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Michael Rosen is an award-winning author and anthologist of books for young readers, including SHAKESPEARE: HIS WORK AND HIS WORLD. He says, "Reading a whole Shakespeare play can be a daunting prospect for many young people. We hit on the idea of using Shakespeare's words, edited down, with a linking script and illustrations."Jane Ray is an internationally acclaimed illustrator of children's books. She says, "ROMEO AND JULIET is, of course, a story of contrasts — love and hate, youth and old age, life and death — all of which makes for some wonderful visual opportunities. Although it is fashionable to place Shakespearean drama in alternative historical settings, I was never tempted to move it from 16th-century Italy because of the wealth of sumptuous costumes and architecture available to draw from."