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crankylibrarian
Jan 27, 2014crankylibrarian rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What a charming book. Playwright Ken Ludwig recounts his humorous, inspiring and touching experiences in sharing his love for Shakespeare with his son and daughter. Each chapter breaks down key speeches, with paraphrases, and a breakdown of the rhythm and metre. In between, Ludwig provides insightful commentary on the scene, and the character speaking, interwoven with anecdotes about his own, or his children's first encounters with the play. By focusing on 9 plays, including romances, histories, and comedies; Ludwig is able to cram in a tremendous amount of information in a lively and accessible format. Ludwig's method stresses memorization, a technique that has fallen out of favor, and may strike some parents as needlessly didactic. He provides helpful "quotation pages" to make this easier, and stresses that memorization not only can help children understand the lines, but that it can also be fun; and that the words will then remain with them their whole lives. The most moving experience in the book is Ludwig's daughter, on the eve of her departure for college, reciting to her father, from memory Polonius' parting advice to Laertes. Chills. A great book for anyone looking for an engaging guide to Shakespeare. includes a bibliography of many other wonderful Shakespeare resources on film, paper and audio.