Review Detail

There's quite a bit to unpack in Bisantz's story covering the history of Romeo and Juliet.

We receive a history lesson, a biography of William Shakespeare, and coverage of the multiple iterations of Romeo and Juliet that exist, plus additional school-type lessons. I honestly had no idea that Romeo and Juliette was essential a retelling, a few times over. Shakespeare's version is by far the most famous and well known version.

We receive many lessons about Shakespeare's life before he became a writer/poet, as well as history lessons about Queen Elizabeth I and the Bubonic Plague. We also learn about different types of poetry used Shakespeare used in his plays.
These "lessons" are like an aside in the middle of the chapter. I feel this makes the reading a bit clunky and suited more for older readers that can focus on more than one plot at a time.
I feel the author was pushing Romeo and Juliet as romantic love story too much, but at the same time I can understand that being more palatable for younger audiences.

The illustrations are basic black ink, like one would find in a news paper. They are beautiful in their simplicity, A far cry from the cover image, which I personally found a bit off putting.

What Is the Story of Romeo and Juliet? would be great for elementary or intermediate age students interested in learning about the featured person/topic and to help prepare them for the more challenging reading to come, in this case Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.