The Young Person’s Guide To Shakespeare: [Book-and-Cd Set]

Who was Shakespeare, and why has his work remained so compelling to us for so many centuries? With conversational text, informative sidebars, and full-color photographs, The Young Person’s Guide to Shakespeare makes Shakespeare’s life and work accessible to young readers. Topics addressed include Shakespeare’s youth, marriage, and family life; the fascinating story of the Globe Theatre and Shakespeare’s life as a playwright and actor in London; an introduction to Shakespeare’s plays and the challenges of performing them; and Shakespeare’s enduring legacy–the enormous influence he still holds over the arts, culture, language, and society hundreds of years later.

Shakespeare and Macbeth

Blending historical research and contemporary literary criticism, this fascinating look at one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays explains how the playwright conceived and wrote Macbeth and brings to life a production of the play.

Dickens: His Work and His World

What the Dickens is all the fuss? Take a lively look at an author whose indelible characters live on in our language and culture — and whose legacy shapes our literature to this day. Join award-winning author, critic, and anthologist Michael Rosen for a spirited tour of the life and work of one of our greatest novelists. With stunning illustrations by Robert Ingpen, this accessible, child-friendly book vividly re-creates the world of Charles Dickens, from the author’s childhood in London to his early career, his performances, and, of course, the great social and political upheavals of the time, which inspired so much of his work. Michael Rosen’s vibrant discussion covers some of the best-known novels by Dickens, describing OLIVER TWIST, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and DAVID COPPERFIELD, and providing a fascinating detailed analysis of GREAT EXPECTATIONS.

Home Is Beyond The Mountains

When the Turkish army invades northwestern Persia in 1918, nine-year-old Samira and her parents, brother, and baby sister are driven from their tiny village. Taking only what they can carry, they flee into the mountains, but the journey is so difficult that only Samira and her older brother survive. Shunted from one refugee camp to another, from Persia to Iraq and back again, Samira finally ends up in an orphanage, where it seems that she will live out her childhood. Then Susan Shedd, the new orphanage director, arrives and, to Samira’s amazement, announces that she will take all the children back to their villages to make new lives for themselves. With wonder and fear, Samira and three hundred other orphans embark on an epic march of three hundred miles through the mountains towards home.

Merlin

In flight from the magic visions that plague him, Merlin falls into the hands of the wodewose–wild folk who, according to legend, live in the company of wolves and devour children. But far from being wild, the wodewose are an enormous family of the unwanted, the abandoned, and the homeless. For once Merlin has found a place where an orphan like himself belongs.

This is the third book in  the “Young Merlin Trilogy.”