Shakespeare's Storybook (Book & CD) - Softcover

'A volume full of interest.' --Bookseller 'Introduce your pupils to England's most famous playwright with Shakespeare's Storybook. Patrick Ryan uses the folk tales that inspired Shakespeare to appeal to a younger audience and the background to each story is revealed in the introduction.' --Junior Education magazine 'Patrick Ryan, a professional storyteller and teacher, retells folk-tales which may have inspired the playwright. He precedes each folk-tale with an explanatory introduction, putting them into historical and geographical context in a relaxed, accessible narrative. The perspective is an interesting one, for those coming new to the plays, and those familiar with them. James Mayhew's busy, intense illustrations transform the anthology into a lovely gift. --Scotsman 'A spirited celebration of the English pastoral, full of light, movement and colour.' --TES Primary 'This is a book to read from cover to cover, to dip into, and return to time and again.' --Children's Books in Ireland 'Many of Shakespeare's plays were based on folk and fairy tales. Patrick Ryan, a professional storyteller, explores seven of Shakespeare's plays... These tales are beautifully told and the folk tales have been painstakingly researched.' --Education Otherwise

Patrick Ryan has worked as a teacher and professional storyteller for over twenty years. Now based in London, he regularly tours Britain, Europe and the US performing, lecturing and conducting a variety of workshops. Patrick has written for the BBC and has also actively participated in several major storytelling projects, among them 'Living Stories of the World', a multi-cultural workshop for primary children in inner and outer London. James Mayhew graduated from Maidstone College of Art with a first class honours degree in illustration. He has created many acclaimed picture books for children, and in 1994 received the New York Times award for one of the year's ten best-illustrated books with The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams. This is James' second title for Barefoot Books, joining The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera (1-901223-41-8).