Shakespeare in youngCanLit

Everyone may be celebrating Earth Day but April is a significant month historically when we consider William Shakespeare, the Bard.  He was baptized April 26, 1564 and his death was recorded as April 23, 1616.  Having recently finished reading Kevin Sylvester's Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet (Simon & Schuster, 2015), I realized how the plots and themes of William Shakespeare's plays are so universal and expressed in such eloquent poetry and prose that it's not surprising that they're often used as the basis for more contemporary novels.  If you're a lover of Shakespeare, consider reading the following for a different flavour of Shakespeare's wonder, whether to learn more about the man and his works or to just enjoy how Canadian authors have found creative means to embed his work.


Picture Books

Goodnight, Sweet Pig
by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Josée Masse
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 2-5
2007

Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves
by Andy Jones

Illustrated by Darka Erdelji

Running the Goat Books & Broadsides

52 pp.

Ages 4+

2012

Fiction

Broken Bones (A Peggy Henderson Adventure)

by Gina McMurchy-Barber

Dundurn

196 pp.

Ages 9-12

2011

Buried Truths

by Alice Walsh

Tuckamore Books/Creative Book Publishing

173 pp.

Ages 11-14

2013

The Grave Robber's Apprentice
by Allan Stratton
HarperCollins Canada
256 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012

Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet
by Kevin Sylvester
Simon & Schuster
320 pp.
Ages 8-12
2015

Pegeen and the Pilgrim

by Lyn Cook

Illustrated by Pat and Bill Wheeler

Tundra Books

278 pp.

Ages 9-13

2002

The Shakespeare Stealer

by Gary Blackwood

Puffin Books / Penguin Books Canada

216 pp.

Ages 10-14

1998

Shakespeare's Scribe

by Gary Blackwood
Puffin Books
272 pp.
Ages 10-14
2000

Shakespeare's Spy

by Gary Blackwood
Puffin Books
288 pp.
Ages 10-14
2003

Stitches
by Glen Huser
Groundwood Books
200 pp.
Ages 11-14
2003

Young Adult

Closer to Hamlet
by David Boyd
Wonderdog Press
120 pp.
Ages 13-17
2010

Come Like Shadows

by Welwyn Wilton Katz

Puffin

224 pp.

Ages 13-17

1995

A Breath of Frost
by Alyxandra Harvey
Bloomsbury
496 pp.
Ages 12-18
2014

Whisper the Dead 
by Alyxandra Harvey
Bloomsbury
408 pp.
Ages 12-18
2015

Minerva's Voyage
by Lynne Kositsky
Dundurn Press
240 pp.
Ages 11-14
2009

Only in the Movies

by William Bell

Doubleday Canada

240 pp.

Ages 13-15

2010

A Question of Will
by Lynne Kositsky
Roussan
141 pp.
Ages 12-14
2000

Rough Magic
by Carol Cude Mullin
Second Story Press
264 pp.
Ages 14-17
2009

The Taming

by Eric Walters and Teresa Toten

Doubleday Canada

229 pp.

Ages 13-17

2012

Wondrous Strange
by Lesley Livingston
HarperCollins
327 pp.
Ages 12+
2008

Dark Light
by Lesley Livingston
HarperCollins
312 pp.
Ages 12+
2010

Tempestuous

by Lesley Livingston

HarperCollins

361 pp.

Ages 12+

2011

Non-Fiction

All the World's a Stage: A Pop-up Biography of William Shakespeare

by Michael Bender

Raincoast Books

20 pp.

Ages 9+

1999

A Child's Portrait of Shakespeare
by Lois Burdett
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 7-12
1995

Hamlet for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)
by Lois Burdett
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 7-12
2000

Macbeth for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)
by Lois Burdett
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 7-12
1996

A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)
by Lois Burdett
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 7-12
1997

Much Ado About Nothing for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)

by Lois Burdett

Firefly Books

64 pp.

Ages 7-12

2002

Romeo and Juliet for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)
by Lois Burdett
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 7-12
1998

The Tempest for Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)
by Lois Burdett and Christine Coburn
Firefly Books
40 pp.
Ages 7-12
1999

Twelfth Night For Kids (Shakespeare Can Be Fun)

by Lois Burdett and Christine Coburn
Firefly Books
40 pp.
Ages 7-12
1994