TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE

Featuring inviting design, near-transparent prose, and an all-star cast of illustrators, this collection of retold Shakespearean stories should become a front runner in a decidedly crowded field. Packer recasts ten major comedies and tragedies as short stories, filling in details of dress, gesture, and motivation between incidents, and mixing direct quotes with paraphrases: “Ill met by moonlight, Titania. What are you doing here?” Each entry opens with a mood-setting, full-page illustration, including somber portraits of Macbeth and Othello from Barry Moser and Kadir Nelson, respectively, a powerful Lear family portrait from the Dillons, a cluster of amiable figures in peasant dress in Barbara McClintock’s Forest of Arden tableau, and windblown views of Prospero, Miranda, and Caliban from Mark Teague. Prefaced by a lively account of Shakespeare’s career, theater, and big themes, these frank, witty, sad, melodramatic, heartrending versions effectively capture the originals’ timeless art—and heart. (Nonfiction. 11-15)