{"product_id":"wills-wordsisbn-9781580896383","title":"Will's Words","description":"When Jane Sutcliffe sets out to write a book about William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre, in her own words, she runs into a problem: Will's words keep popping up all over the place! What's an author to do? After all, Will is responsible for such familiar phrases as \"what's done is done\" and \"too much of a good thing.\" He even helped turn \"household words\" into household words. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But, Jane embraces her dilemma, writing about Shakespeare, his plays, and his famous phrases with glee. After all, what better words are there to use to write about the greatest writer in the English language than his very own?  As readers will discover, \"the long and the short of it\" is this: Will changed the English language forever.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Backmatter includes an author’s note, a bibliography, and a timeline.\u003ci\u003e*\u003c\/i\u003eFocusing on the now commonplace words that Shakespeare introduced  into the English language, Sutcliffe describes the inner workings of the  Globe Theatre and the Bard’s genius. The verso of each spread presents  historical facts about Elizabethan London and the theatrical tradition  it spawned, with Shakespeare’s words interspersed amid Sutcliffe’s  lively prose, while the recto highlights the words, explains their  meanings (both original and contemporary), and cites their usage in the  poet’s plays. Shelley’s meticulously detailed painted pen-and-ink  drawings brim with life and convey a clear sense of 1606 London, “a  bustling, jostling, clinging, singing, stinking, head-chopping,  pickpocketing wonder of a city,” while still managing to individualize  the personages both onstage and off. They are perfectly married to  Sutcliff’s concise, humorous, fact-filled prose. While the author  references the few known truths of Shakespeare’s life, the emphasis is  on his once-inventive but now familiar words, thus setting this title  apart from most standard biographies. Readers will discover the origins  of basic terms and expressions, such as hurry, fashionable, and  cold-blooded. The book opens and concludes with a letter from Sutcliffe  laying out her intentions in penning this work and discussing what we  know of Shakespeare’s life. Pair this gem with Diane Stanley and Peter  Vennema’s Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare (Morrow, 1992)  for a full portrait of Shakespeare’s genius. VERDICT A beautifully  presented, original approach to the playwright’s lasting contributions  to the English language.\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-School Library Journal,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSutcliffe presents an enjoyable, if slightly rocky, introductory reconnaissance into Shakespeare's wordplay. Shakespeare could turn a phrase, and Sutcliffe brings a number of them to readers' attention, smartly worked into a vest-pocket history of London theater during Shakespeare's days. Shelley's artwork is a lively accompaniment, delicate in color and linework but bustling as only a big population in small confines can be. Each double-page spread presents a few paragraphs of text about London theater on verso, the occasional word or phrase printed in boldface. On recto are boxed items that give the meanings of the highlighted words—and how some have changed considerably: \"wild-goose chase\" meant a horse race with the leader and followers in the shape of geese in flight; now it means a useless search. The location of the words in Shakespeare's works is also provided, and there's a handy timeline at the end of the book. There are gems—\"too much of a good thing,\" \"a sorry sight,\" \"foul play\" (\"fair play,\" too)—but then there are some complete mysteries: \"excitement,\" \"fashionable,\" \"well behaved,\" all of which underwhelm. Why bother with these when there are so many goodies to choose from? \"Crack of doom,\" \"break the ice,\" \"brave new world\"—treasures all. Still, even if what's done is done, there is absolutely no need to knit a brow or make short shrift of this well-tempered piece of work.\u003cbr\u003e-\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eDespite both title and subtitle, the value of this picture book lies in its delightful, realistic illustrations and the simple text's introduction to Elizabethan theater. About 30 terms Shakespeare either coined or made common are included meaningfully in the narrative, a pair or so on each two-page spread. The narrative itself explains the place of theater in Londoners' daily lives (for both audience members and actors), the Globe Theatre's architecture, and how Shakespeare's verbal richness spread into daily figures of speech. But it's the illustrations that steal the show. Each spread is crowded with intricate, colorful details that seem to spring to life in, for instance, a cutaway of backstage actions, the crowd arriving for an afternoon's performance, how different social classes positioned themselves during the play, London street scenes, and so on. These watercolor and pen-and-ink images invite endless searching of the crowds' unique faces and Thames River vistas.\u003cbr\u003e-\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003eJANE SUTCLIFFE is author of \u003ci\u003eStone Giant: Michelangelo’s David and How He Came to Be\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe White House Is Burning: August 24, 1814\u003c\/i\u003e, and more than two dozen other books for children. Jane lives in Tolland, Connecticut. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJOHN SHELLEY grew up near Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratfordupon-Avon. He has illustrated more than forty children’s books, including\u003ci\u003e Stone Giant: Michelangelo’s David and How He Came to Be\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFamily Reminders\u003c\/i\u003e. John lives in Norwich, England.Dear Reader: \u003cbr\u003e We have to talk. I have failed you. I set out to write a book about the Globe Theatre and its great storyteller, William Shakespeare. About how the man was an absolute genius with words and wove those words into the most brilliant and moving plays ever written \u003cbr\u003e But that’s just the trouble. You see, I wanted to tell you the story in my own words. But Will Shakespeare’s words are there, too, popping up all over the place. \u003cbr\u003e It’s not my fault. Really. Will’s words are everywhere. They’re bumping into our words all the time, and we don’t even know it. So how could I help it,\u003cb\u003e for goodness’ sake?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There, you see what I mean? Those are Will’s words, all mixed in with mine. People just love his plays, and they’ve kept on loving them for hundreds of years-\u003ci\u003ehundreds!\u003c\/i\u003e And the more they love his plays, the more they use his words. Now his words and sayings are everywhere, ending up in the stuff we say and write every day. I couldn’t avoid them if I tried—and I \u003ci\u003edid\u003c\/i\u003e try. \u003cbr\u003e Well, I suppose\u003cb\u003e what’s done is done. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Oh. Right. Maybe I’ll just stop now and let you read the book.\u003cbr\u003e Yours truly, \u003cbr\u003e The Author","brand":"Charlesbridge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303989137637,"sku":"NP9781580896383","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781580896382.jpg?v=1730755992","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/wills-wordsisbn-9781580896383","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}