A collector recently bought at public auction, in London, for one hundred and fifty-seven guineas, an autograph of Shakespeare; but for nothing a school-boy can read Hamlet and can detect secrets of highest concernment yet unpublished therein.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Experience”

William Shakespeare, b.1564 or thereabouts.

Shakespearean literature for kids:
Stage Fright on a Summer’s Night by Mary Pope Osborne. Jack and Annie, via the Magic Treehouse, travel back in time to Shakespeare’s England and participate in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Shakespeare Stealer, Shakespeare’s Scribe, and Shakespeare’s Spy by Gary Blackwood. Widge, a boy of unknown parentage, becomes an apprentice at William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Or maybe he’s a spy out to steal Mr. Shakespeare’s plays. Partially reviewed here.

Shakespeare’s Secret by Elise Broach. Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth, not to mention Edward de Vere and Anne Boleyn, keep intruding into Hero’s life as she tries, with the help of an elderly neighbor and an older boy named Danny, to sort out her place in her family and in school. Brief Semicolon review here.

Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley. A 48-page biography of Shakespeare with beautiful illustrations.

Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. I still like these retellings of Shakespeare’s plays, even though they were first published in 1807. You can download the ebook here.

Loving Will Shakespeare by Meyer. I have this book on my TBR list, but I haven’t gotten areound to it yet. It’ll be fun, I think.

For adults:
Blood and Judgement by Lars Walker is a take-off on Hamlet (for adults). Reviewed here.

And look what I bought at the library book sale on Saturday:

My Complete Works is falling apart, so I bought this huge tome for $12.00.

I bought both Lamb’s Tales and another illustrated re-telling by Leon Garfield.

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood.

Northrup Frye on Shakespeare, lectures on the plays of Shakespeare by the Canadian professor.

A few selected links:

Mental Multivitamin: Loving Will.

Dominion Family: “Cry ‘God, for Harry, England, and St. George!'”

And, finally, Miss Erin has a Shakespeare Challenge.