Romeo and Juliet

This book is perfect to read before tackling the original. I read it over and over in middle school. It incorporates the more famous lines from the play with simpler prose, and it all flows very well. Truthfully though, I mainly bought it for the pictures - they are gorgeous. The flesh tones! Juliet's nightgown! Even the background washes are warm and romantic. This book is great for kids unfamiliar with the story and adults who love elegant writing and amazing illustration.

My 9th grade students were having a very hard time understanding this play. After reading the first act, I went looking for something that could help them get into it. I read them this version of it, and it really helped them visualize it and really established the storyline for them. They did much better after that. I think it's a great book if you want to know the storyline or want a way to visualize the story; I don't think it replaces an actual reading of Shakespeare's play (what could?).

I bought this book with the express purpose of cutting it up and using the artwork for a bulletin board, so for that use, it was okay. The pictures are vibrant and interesting and bring a real humanity to the characters. There weren't quite as many characters pictured as I would have liked, many of the mains are missing (Prince Escalus? Lady Montague?)but it has a wonderful pull out of the balcony scene that made the board awesome, so it was a worthwhile purchase in that sense. I didn't use it as a book to read, but as I cut out the pictures, I read the story and was a little disappointed in the version. It was a little too dense for very young readers, and a little too dumbed down for older readers. It might be perfect for a 9-11 year old in the average grade reading levels, but not many 9 year olds are interested in reading romeo and juliet, so I'm not sure who this book is targeted for. Overall, nice art, not the best children's version of the story I've come across.

I use this book for my 7th grade Shakespeare unit. I teach Middle School Drama and it was very helpful! Came quickly and efficiently!

"Romeo And Juliet" by William Shakespeare adapted by Bruce Coville illustrated by Dennis Nolan (Dial Press, 1999) ---------------------------------------- This is a good, compact adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, "Romeo And Juliet," with crisp, cogent prose that includes some passages of original dialogue and an easy to follow narrative thread. Coville doesn't cut corners when it comes to the dark side of the story -- he doesn't linger on the more morbid dialogue, but makes it clear when someone is murdered or poisoned, etc. When seen in such a condensed form, the story is rather dark; the romantic allure of the two teens gets a little lost in the bustle, but this is still a fine adaptation, as are Coville's other works. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

Illustrations are beautiful! A little too difficult for my third graders to understand!

My 5th grade students reading the original R&J love this version for the simplicity of the language, to help them understand difficult parts of the original text, and for the phenomenal illustrations. The girls are especially interested, and wait for a turn to read the book. My own 4 and 5 year old children love the book, and ask to have it read to them every night at bedtime. They don't seem at all bothered by the death scene at the end, which did worry me at the first reading. I also highly recommend the same team's version of Midsummer Night's Dream for the same reasons, both 5th graders and preschoolers love them.

Beautiful illustrations and fairly faithful to the language in the play. I bought this to read to my five year old prior to seeing the ballet and she was eager to read the book. I did need to decode much of the language but she enjoyed it. Super fast delivery and in perfect condition.