For many of us, getting through Shakespeare at school was difficult and tedious. Turns out, it doesn't need to be that way. In this episode, actor Isabel Burton shares lots of different ways to make Shakespeare fun and engaging for young children.

I have included some of my favourite children's books of Shakespearen plays and his life.

Books, plays and humans mentioned:

• Macbeth (1605) by William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare (playwright)
• The Bell Shakespeare Theatre Company
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) by William Shakespeare
• The Bell Shakespeare Players
• Romeo and Juliet (1968 film by Zeffirelli)
• Elizabethan (1558-1603) and Jacobean (1603-1625) London
• Queen Elizabeth I
• King James I
• Sam Stars at Shakespeare's Globe (2006) by Pauline Francis, illustrated by Jane Tattersfield
• As You Like It (1599) by William Shakespeare
• The Lion King (1994) (Disney)
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) (Disney)
• Othello (1604) by William Shakespeare
• Just Macbeth (2009) by Andy Griffiths
• Puck's final speech in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act V, Scene 1)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (2021) by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Jane Ray

Recommended books for primary school-aged children:

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (2021) by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Jane Ray
• Sam Stars at Shakespeare's Globe (2006) by Pauline Francis, illustrated by Jane Tattersfield
• The Story Orchestra: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2024) by Jessica Courtney-Tickle, Music by Felix Mendelssohn
• The Shakespeare Stories (2014) by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross