The Story Behind "Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare"
The cornerstone of our SHAKESPEARE FOR THE EARS collection is a our newly recorded version of E. Nesbit's classic retelling of Shakespeare's plays, BEAUTIFUL STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE. Here is a little background information for you on this book and our audio production of it:
Edith Bland Nesbit (1858 - 1924) was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television. You might recognize some of them: The Railway Children, Five Children and It, and The Story of the Treasure Seekers.
BEAUTIFUL STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE is Nesbit's much beloved, time-tested classic "Living Book" adaptation of TWENTY of Shakespeare's plays, retold especially for younger listeners in her day (which means that they are appropriate for both young AND adult readers today). Her book, heavily illustrated and including a wonderful selection of famous quotes from Shakespeare & a pronunciation guide (all of which is included in our collection) was originally subtitled "A Home Study Course". It is indeed that, as anyone who goes through this volume will have an excellent grasp on Shakespeare's stories & a taste of his writing -- so we kept that subtitle for our own CD collection. Our brand new audiobook version of this classic book makes it all the more accessible and "painless" for those who want to introduce the Bard's work to their children.
Meet Our Readers
Now, some of you might remember we recently sent out an email asking for "readers" for some of our upcoming projects. Well, this is the first of those projects. We had dozens of folks send us their sample readings, and out of those, we chose three delightful voices for this audiobook. They are all wonderfully talented homeschooling moms, who (of course) have a great deal of experience reading out loud to their families, and thus they make wonderful, homey readers for these stories.
Want to hear a sample from the Audiobook? Click the button below.
(If no button appears, your system is not set up to play Flash files. Sorry!)
We wanted to introduce you to these ladies, since they added so much to our audiobook. Here's a brief introduction to our three readers (in their own words):
Anna Sul
We live deep in the furrow of the central San Joaquin valley ofCalifornia. My husband and I have been homeschooling since the first ofour three children was born seven years ago. E. Nesbit's BeautifulStories from Shakespeare is not only an enjoyable introduction toShakespeare but also a bit of an historical work in itself. I so enjoyedreading for this project that it inspired us to begin regularlyrecording the children reading from the Psalms. I may even record someof my own poetry.Reading to our children and sharing favorite stories is a joy that isworth fighting for the time to do so. As a child I fondly remember beingread to by my parents and later reading to my younger siblings. Now ouroldest is reading to all of us! Listening to these new Living Books forthe Ears together I'm sure will add variety to our literature diet and whetour appetites for more!
Ramona Voight
I am mom to one son, almost 13 years old. We live in Minnesota,
and have been homeschooling for 6 years now, and loving every minute.It has been a joy and pleasure to learn about the world with my family.This Shakespeare project was great fun. My mom is a born storyteller,
and I have inherited that love of a good tale. I have newfound respect
for recording artists. The time I spent in my " recording studio"
(the bathroom with the door shut!) was hard work, but rewarding.
I hope this compilation helps everyone enjoy the Bard a bit more.Rose Lee
I live in Te Puke, the Kiwifruit Capital of the World, in New
Zealand. I have been homeschooling since 2000, and have twochildren. My son is 13, my daughter 7. Reading aloud to thechildren has for many years been the way we started our day, andoften ended it as well. Sometimes it would also make a greatbreak in the middle. Reading for this project has been anopportunity to explore an author I otherwise might have skippedfollowing my scant experience of him in High School. I lovebringing stories alive, and hope I have managed to achieve that for the listeners.